Madam, – Your report (Home News, March 15th) on the closure of daycare services at a HSE nursing home in Boyle, Co Roscommon, highlights some of the disjointed planning which occurs when it comes to providing essential services for older people in Ireland.
As a charity which works to improve policies and services for older people, it is deeply frustrating that such decisions are taken by the HSE at the same time as the Government is touring the country as part of a consultation process to seek the public’s input into the National Positive Ageing Strategy.
You do not need to be a health economist to appreciate the value for money provided by a day-care centre run from a HSE facility which also provides residential care. In effect, this centre was meeting the needs of a wide range of older people in the Boyle area. Day-care centres across Ireland are currently providing an essential support to older people who may otherwise struggle to continue living in their own homes.
The vast majority of older people wish to continue living in their own homes. Politicians like to beat the drum about the rising cost to the State of increasing numbers of older people who will need residential care in the years to come. Yet the HSE then closes a service in Boyle which could provide an effective solution to both camps. The decision to close the daycare services needs to be reversed as a matter of urgency. – Yours, etc,