THE future of services for the elderly in the care of the government came under close scrutiny in Tynwald as members reeled from the recent announcement the department would close one of its residential care homes.
Earlier this month Social Care Minister Chris Robertshaw MHK confirmed no new admissions would be taken at Glenside Resource Centre in Douglas and it would close completely by 2014.
The announcement was made as part of a shake-up of adult social care services, which will see more elderly people receiving care in their own homes.
Admissions have stopped temporarily at Reayrt ny Baie Resource Centre, also in Douglas, to create capacity in the system needed to deliver the change.
This week, Brenda Cannell (Douglas East) asked whether home care assistants were trained to bathe and feed clients, how many home care assistants there are and the caseload of each, what action Mr Robertshaw took when the finances of those living on a self-financing basis in residential care homes were exhausted and how much those residents not receiving income support, but who are self-financing, pay for home care on an hourly basis and at weekends.
Bill Henderson (Douglas North) wanted to know what action Mr Robertshaw intends to take to continue long-term admissions to residential homes, what resources he will provide for the care needs of elderly people and whether this would attract extra funding.
Mr Henderson asked the questions in light of a unanimous 2008 Tynwald resolution that called upon the department responsible for residential care for the elderly to take steps, including a full-scale review of provision, before deciding to close any facilities.
Mr Robertshaw said home care assistants did not carry out bathing and feeding. He went on to say those functions were in the remit of the home help service, who are agency staff.
Mr Robertshaw agreed to provide members with job descriptions for home care assistants and home help.
Alex Downie MLC asked whether day care services for the elderly, such as that which used to run at the old Noble’s Hospital building and included social events and health checks, were a part of the plan for the future.
‘I would ask him to appreciate at the current time there is a more limited service than the one we want to achieve,’ said Mr Robertshaw.
‘We want to surround the person staying at home with as many services as we possibly can and we want to expand as time goes on.’
He said there were 89 home care assistants, including supervisors, and each one could be dealing with around five clients per shift.
On further questioning from Mrs Cannell, he agreed more staff would be needed if the department’s aspirations were to be met, but that it would be a challenge for his officers in light of the difficulty of finding appropriate people for the job, particularly as the posts are not very well paid. But Mr Robertshaw said he had every faith his team were up to the task.
Home care costs a self-funding client £18 per hour during the week, £27 per hour at weekends and £56 per hour on Sundays and on Bank Holidays. Mr Robertshaw said there were 126 people receiving home care and 95 of those received it at weekends and on Bank Holidays.
In response to the questions about residential home payments, Mr Robertshaw said anyone who could no longer pay from their own funds would be pointed in the direction of benefit support and provided with assistance with the forms. Mrs Cannell said she did not think this was always the case in practice and that residents were being told if they cannot pay they will have to leave.
Turning to Mr Henderson’s question, Mr Robertshaw said his department was ‘robustly facing up to what could be a growing crisis’ in care for the elderly in the Isle of Man, but did not address the issue of the 2008 Tynwald resolution.
There are 64 bed-spaces at Glenside and currently there are 59 residents, who will be offered alternative accommodation.
There are 64 members of staff. Mr Robertshaw has said his department would work with them to find employment elsewhere in the department where possible.