COVID surges across Mid Ulster amid latest care staffing crisis

COVID is wreaking havoc across the health sector in Mid Ulster with the area suffering a massive surge in positive cases over the last week.

Care for elderly and vulnerable people in their homes has been cut, while the Craigavon Area Hospital was forced to stop ambulances at the weekend, such was the influx of patients, some of whom were suffering from coronavirus.

And as politicians prepare to introduce the so-called Covid passport, the most recent statistics paint a worrying picture: There were 1,199 positive Covid 19 cases in Mid Ulster over the last seven days, almost double the figure of 639 for the previous week. On Wednesday there were 12 Covid-linked deaths in the North recorded over the previous 24-hour period.

In a response to the cuts to domiciliary care, which has hit many families across Mid Ulster, the Northern Health Trust has told the Herald that Covid is a factor in the shortage of carers. One Cookstown family said they have been forced to call upon friends for help, after the care package for their elderly and disabled mother was cut.

Over the last week numerous reports have emerged of cuts to domiciliary care packages in the Northern Health Trust area – which covers large parts of Mid Ulster including Cookstown and the surrounding area.

This week, the Dungannon Herald, spoke to the family of an 86-year-old woman, after the cut to her care package came into effect last Thursday. A daughter of the woman – who does not wish to be named – said her mum had been receiving three visits a day from care workers, once in the morning, once at midday and the third visit at bedtime.

HOME CARE CUTS

The woman said the Trust had axed the night-time visit, offering a lack of staff as the reason.

“We are in a really bad way about this and we don’t know how we are going to cope if this isn’t fixed,” she said. “My mother has had trouble with her knees and she needs a lot of help to get about and get washed and fed, and we had to fight hard for her to get the care in the first place.

“I am 68-years-old and I have Multiple Sclerosis myself, so I am not fit to look after her properly, lift her or do the things that the carers were doing. I have two brothers and they are not in great health either. “They (Health Trust) just rang me up and told me that there would be no carers coming at bedtime, and that is one of the key times for us.

“We are really up to high doh about this. It’s very worrying for my mother too, especially after the last two years with the Covid lockdowns.”

She added, “It is a disgrace. The only thing that I have been told is that there is not enough carers.

“I know it’s not the fault of the carers, because they do great work, but they (health chiefs) need to pay the carers a proper wage and then there wouldn’t be a shortage.

“I have spoken to my local Councillor Trevor Wilson about this and he’s trying to get some answers, but I have heard other stories of care being cut. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen.

“We’ve been told that the only alternative is to send my mother into a home, but she has a good home, it’s the family home, she just needs a bit of help.”

Speaking during a debate in council, Cllr Wilson said, he had been contacted by a number of concerned constituents from Cookstown and Moneymore who had been told their care package was to be cut and provided an insight into the stressful situation these people now find themselves in.

“I had an elderly lady yesterday in tears. They have offered her a place in a care home, it is the last place she wants to go,” he said.

“It is very hard to listen to someone crying to you down the phone because they don’t want to go into a nursing home but they are lost unless they have their carers back in the evening to help them go to bed.”

STAFF SHORTAGES

In response, a spokesperson for the Northern Health Trust told the Dungannon Herald, that “ demand continues to outstrip supply”.

The spokesperson said, “This is apparent across the Northern Trust area, but particularly within Mid Ulster, as some independent sector providers have raised concerns with the Trust regarding the sustainability of their services, due to challenges with both COVID and non-COVID related absence and pressures in relation to recruitment, including, one of our Rapid Response domiciliary care providers who have temporarily reduced the number of hours available, with the intention of reviewing the position in a month’s time.

“We are experiencing similar challenges within our internal homecare services, regrettably resulting in possible reduction of the number of calls within rotas.

“Alongside this, many service users decline the offer of a temporary contingency bed, meaning they are waiting in hospitals or care homes for longer.

“Where domiciliary care packages are not available and a care home placement is accepted, the usual care home placement fees will be waived until a suitable home care package has been developed.

“Continuous local recruitment drives are on-going within the homecare sector, appealing to the public to consider a career choice in social care which in turn would increase the number of workers and increase capacity; however we are facing limited success in the Mid-Ulster locality.”

The spokesperson added, “We would appeal to families to work with us at this time to assist with any informal support they can provide to assist their loved ones homecare, and to appreciate that we are doing all possible to meet assessed need in increasingly difficult circumstances.”