Home help service prospects gloomy

Press, 17 July 1979, Page 6

Home help service prospects gloomy

The North Canterbury Hospital Board is pessimistic about the chances of setting up a national home help service, first recommended by the Health Department in December, 1977. The scheme was publicly supported early last year by the former Minister of Health (Mr Gill) and the former Minister of Social Welfare (Mr Walker). Since then, however, shortage of Government health funds has forced the scheme to be shelved. The chairman of the board (Mr T. C. Grigg) told a meeting of the board’s institutions committee yesterday that while he agreed in principle with the need for home help services he questioned whether it was cor-

' rect for hospital boards to pursue these at a time when ; all boards were forced to take a cut of 1 per cent in • their finances. i If, because of diversions of finance to other projects, ’ hospital services were cut ’ further, many people would ’ suffer, he said. The committee agreed, I however, to ask the Health > Department to accept one ; recommendation of the re- ; port on home help services I relating to the assessment of those requiring the service. At present the elderly, chronically sick, terminally ill and physically disabled . receiving home help services must be assessed by a dis-

trict nurse before the service is provided.

The committee wants this requirement dropped to make it easier for many to get existing home help services.

The board’s acting chief executive (Mr G. W. Davies said that use of the temporary employment scheme might be one way in which the Government could set up home help services. This idea might find support with the Health Department, which had expected funds to be made available in the Budget to set up the scheme. “The Government may be able to bridge the gap by using temporary people working, possibly, with the Social welfare Department,” Mr Davies said.