HUNDREDS of Fermanagh patients are currently waiting on care packages, with the length of delay in getting their care dependant on where aexactly in the county they are living, it has been revealed.
The Western Trust has warned of ongoing “workforce challenges” in providing care in various areas of Fermanagh, as well as a lack of availability of beds in local care homes across the county as a whole.
This is leading to patients remaining in hospital despite no longer being acutely ill, taking up much-needed beds in the SWAH, and to those requiring care at home struggling to get the professional support they need.
Presenting at the March meeting of the Council’s health and social care sub-committee, Trust director of community and older people services, Maura O’Neill, said that as of January this year, the Western Trust was providing home care and ‘life-ablement’ to 3,845 clients, delivering 173,745 hours of care.
However, with difficulties securing beds in nursing homes or domiciliary care packages at home, she noted that as of Monday last week, March 11, there were 379 clients in the Fermanagh and Omagh area with “unmet need” regarding care.
“Despite implementing bespoke recruitment attempts there remains workforce challenges in sourcing care packages in parts of Enniskillen, Garrison, Newtownbutler, Boho, Derrylin and Drumquin,” she said.
Ms O’Neill’s presentation, which focused on the Fermanagh and Omagh area of the Trust, also revealed that as of March 11 there were 12 local patients delayed in hospital while waiting on a care package so they could be discharged.
A total of 139 patients had their discharge delayed from SWAH over the past six months, accounting for a total of 4,248 days.
She said “on any given day” there could be between 10-16 patients facing delayed discharge from the hospital, and those who are living in the local areas mentioned above, where there are difficulties securing care packages, could be delayed in hospital for up to 17 or 18 days.
Noting the “challenges in respect of delays”, Ms O’Neill said the many of these delayed discharges were due to “care home availability, particularly dementia nursing beds, availability of domiciliary care packages, and difficulties in sustaining a social work workforce.”
“The Trust has engaged directly with its care home providers to increase the provision of dementia nursing beds in addition to ongoing recruitment exercises,” said Ms O’Neill, noting Trust staff were also working closely with families to discharge patients “safely in a timely manner.”
She added, “The key challenges for us in the Fermanagh and Omagh area is our availability of care homes, particularly our dementia nursing home beds.”
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