SDLP Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone has expressed dismay at the number of people waiting for a domiciliary care package in the Northern Trust area.
As of January this year there were 1,157 people waiting for a full package and 553 waiting for a partial package, the highest in the North in both instances.
In the Belfast Trust area, 323 people were waiting for a full domiciliary care package, with 194 in the South Eastern Trust, 623 in the Southern Trust and 260 in the Western Trust.
Mid Ulster MLA Mr McGlone said, “For some time I have been highlighting the crisis around domiciliary care packages in the Northern Trust area and these figures bear it out with almost half of the people in the North currently waiting on a full package falling within our area. The numbers are concerning right across the trust areas, but it is clear that there is a particular problem within the Northern Trust and patients are suffering as a result.
“Every single one of these cases is someone who is stuck in hospital or another care facility because they can’t get the care they need at home. That creates a huge burden on our health service that is already under huge pressure. Getting care packages in place for these people would free up much needed bed for other patients at a time when we are seeing people being left in corridors at A&E due to a lack of space on the wards.
“I have raised this issue on numerous occasions with the Chief Executive of the Trust and will again raise it again with the Health Minister. One of the key problems in delivering packages is recruiting and retaining staff and if we want to do that we need to ensure they are paid a fair wage with good working conditions.
“We need an immediate response to this emergency in the Northern Trust area that gets people off the waiting list and back into their homes with the appropriate care. In the long-term we need to look at that the way care packages are provided across the North and how we can ensure that nobody faces such lengthy waits in future.”
ENDS
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The Assembly Question can be viewed here: https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/questions/writtensearchresults.aspx?&qf=0&qfv=1&ref=AQW%205894/22-27
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