This article is from page 8 of the 2014-03-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
A VOLUNTARY housing association has submitted plans to the HSE and the Department of Health showing it can give round the clock care to older people in a community setting, for one fifth of the cost of long-stay nursing home care.
The innovative proposal put forward by the Kilmaley Voluntary Housing Association outlines how for € 250,000 per annum from the Government, the voluntary organisation could provide 24-hour care and security to older people in its 24 housing units.
This would also move the service in Kilmaley from independent living to assisted living as the current residents get older and require more help.
The housing complex, which was set up in 2000, will open 12 more units next month bringing the number of homes in the community up to 24.
The latest plan sent to the HSE, Department of Health and the Fair Deal Review Committee proposes to increase support for residents of Kilmaley Voluntary Housing Com plex so that they can remain in their homes as long as possible.
Kilmaley Voluntary Housing Association director Tom McNamara said that the complex would then be able to provide around the clock security; assistance and care to the residents as long as they can are mobile.
The business plan shows this can be achieved if each residence pays € 75 in rent every week, which will cover all electricity, heating and other costs, and the HSE pays the required staff. The extra staffing cost would come to € 250, 579, along with the € 150,000 costs already covered for the day-care centre.
The business plan claims that a similar service at Cahercalla Nursing Home would cost € 1.2 million, € 1.3 million at St Joseph’s Hospital, and € 1.1 million in Páirc Na Coille Nursing Home.
The benefits would not just be monetary, said Mr McNamara who is also a member of Clare County Council, but would allow older people to have their own home while also having security and assistance as required.
“All we are looking for is the staff costs. We have the infrastructure and we have the expertise to run it on a voluntary capacity,” he said. “We want people to grow old in as normal a way as possible and to be secure and safe as they do,” he added.