Home insteadnationwide health services part 1

Nationwide health services, part 1

Public Health Services

Public health services provided in the community in Ireland are sometimes referred to as “community care services”. They are generally provided by the Health Service Executive (HSE). Community care services may also be provided in conjunction with, or on behalf of, the HSE. Entitlement to community care services is not clear cut and there is also wide variation in the level of services available in the different parts of the country. In general, medical card holders are entitled to community care services free of charge. Non-medical holders may also be entitled, but it is not always possible to actually get the services.

What are Community Care Services?

Community care services can include the public health nursing service, home help service, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, chiropody service, day care and respite care service. The rules about which community care services must be provided differ in accordance with the different services. In some cases, the HSE is obliged to provide services, while for others, the HSE has discretion about whether to make the service available or not. One of the reasons for this is that the health services provided by the HSE reflect the population in the area in which you live (that is, older people, children etc.)

Public Health Nurses

The HSE is obliged to provide a free nursing service to medical card holders. The service is not necessarily confined to medical care holders, although they get priority as they have a legal entitlement. Public health nurses supply many basis nursing and medical needs and a number of special services are provided in some community care areas. These include night nursing, day nursing, weekend nursing and twilight nursing. The services provided by the public health nurses vary from area to area and they frequently act as a point of access for other community care services. Some local health offices employ care assistants as a back up to the public health nursing service. The role of the care assistant is to provide personal care rather than domestic services, but there is some overlap between what they do and what home helps so.

 

Home Help Services

 

The HSE may make arrangements (but is not obliged to do so) to help maintain sick people at home. They may also make arrangements for people who would otherwise be in institutional care. The usual way they do this is by providing a home help service. Home helps may be employed either by the HSE or by voluntary organisations. They usually help with normal household tasks, although they may also help with personal care. If you get a home help, you may have to make a contribution towards the cost – but this practice varies greatly from area to area. Some local health offices also provide a limited home help respite service for carers. If you cannot access a public home help service, a number of private companies offer this service, including that of Home Instead Senior Care.

 

We welcome a visit from you to our offices at Marlinstown Office Park at any time. Alternatively you can call on 044 93 85260 or visit www.homeinstead.ie Email: j.acton@homeinsteadm.ie

 

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