Recently there has been significant media coverage of HSE cuts to frontline services because of reduced budgets. This has caused uproar, with various interested organisations claiming that the most vulnerable in our society are been made scapegoats as they are seen as easy targets.
We all realise that the same money is not available now as at the height of the Celtic Tiger and while it is a pity more was not invested to improve frontline health services and less dedicated to increasing back office resources, we have to live with the fact that savings have to be made.
However, we at Home Care Plus feel that before cutting frontline services we need to examine efficiencies within the delivery of health services, to see where we can in fact improve services without increased expenditure.
One area that is a central plank of HSE policy going forward is the provision of home care. It also impacts one of the vulnerable sectors of society, the elderly.
Presently the HSE spends about €330M per annum on home help and home care packages. The vast majority of this is provided for by the HSE directly and not for profit organisations which are funded directly by the HSE. Private providers cannot compete for the vast majority of this spend leading to a severe lack of competition.
A recent report carried out by the PA Consulting Group for the Irish Private Home Care Association showed the total cost of care carried out by the HSE to be over €29/hour when overheads are taken into account. The private sector can provide this care on average at rates of €21/hour. This translates into a saving of nearly 30%. Applying this to the HSE’s current spend mentioned above would result in a saving of around €90M per annum.
In addition, the private sector generally works to higher standards of care with garda vetting, proper reference checking, training and supervision all being carried out by the main private providers.
The current HSE procurement policy for home help and home care packages is not transparent and it is most certainly not getting the best value for money.
This type of analysis could surely be carried out in other areas within the HSE. In these times of financial crisis, transparent competition is the best way to ensure you are getting the maximum bang for your buck.
Avoiding Cuts To Frontline Services
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Recently there has been significant media coverage of HSE cuts to frontline services because of reduced budgets. This has caused uproar, with various interested organisations claiming that the most vulnerable in our society are been made scapegoats as they are seen as easy targets.
We all realise that the same money is not available now as at the height of the Celtic Tiger and while it is a pity more was not invested to improve frontline health services and less dedicated to increasing back office resources, we have to live with the fact that savings have to be made.
However, we at Home Care Plus feel that before cutting frontline services we need to examine efficiencies within the delivery of health services, to see where we can in fact improve services without increased expenditure.
One area that is a central plank of HSE policy going forward is the provision of home care. It also impacts one of the vulnerable sectors of society, the elderly.
Presently the HSE spends about €330M per annum on home help and home care packages. The vast majority of this is provided for by the HSE directly and not for profit organisations which are funded directly by the HSE. Private providers cannot compete for the vast majority of this spend leading to a severe lack of competition.
A recent report carried out by the PA Consulting Group for the Irish Private Home Care Association showed the total cost of care carried out by the HSE to be over €29/hour when overheads are taken into account. The private sector can provide this care on average at rates of €21/hour. This translates into a saving of nearly 30%. Applying this to the HSE’s current spend mentioned above would result in a saving of around €90M per annum.
In addition, the private sector generally works to higher standards of care with garda vetting, proper reference checking, training and supervision all being carried out by the main private providers.
The current HSE procurement policy for home help and home care packages is not transparent and it is most certainly not getting the best value for money.
This type of analysis could surely be carried out in other areas within the HSE. In these times of financial crisis, transparent competition is the best way to ensure you are getting the maximum bang for your buck.
Home Care