The plight of a Connemara man suffering from Motor Neurone Disease, who is over a year in High Dependency Unit waiting to secure a homecare package, was highlighted in Seanad Éireann.
And an internal ‘turf war’ between two departments within the Health Service Executive (HSE) was blamed for delaying the discharge home to Tuairin from hospital of Baile na hAbhann native Andrew Lydon.
Sinn Féin Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh suggested in the Upper House that the HSE was not willing to take responsibility for putting in place a proper package which would allow him to return home.
The case – first highlighted in this newspaper in 2014, and again last month – involves Andrew, a father of two, who had to fight to get access to life-saving surgery three years ago.
The HSE had initially refused to grant the Connemara man a tracheostomy to extend his life. It was HSE policy not to provide MND (also known as ALS) patients with this procedure because of the prohibitive cost of aftercare packages associated with the operation. Some aftercare packages would cost tens of thousands of Euros per annum.
But after a public campaign by the father of two, and his wife, Sally Lydon, the HSE agreed to operate.
Andrew underwent surgery at University Hospital Galway (UHG) in mid-April last year, and it went well, but he has been occupying a bed in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) for more than a year.
Last month, Sally vented her frustrations in the Connacht Tribune, over the HSE’s failure to provide a homecare package, and lack of engagement on the issue.
She called on the HSE to ‘get the finger out’ to provide a package; and said her husband was feeling guilty at having to take up a bed in HDU, when what he needs is adequate aftercare.
Senator Ó Clochartaigh, who has championed the Lydons’ cause from the beginning, raised the issue again last week.
He said Andrew had undergone a successful tracheotomy operation and it was expected that afterward, once an agreed home care package was put in place and suitable nurses and carers were made available, that he would be able to spend the remainder of his years at home.
“That has not happened unfortunately, even though the efforts of his family, particularly his wife, have been ongoing,” he said.
“It appears that there is a kind of stand-off between two parts of the HSE, namely, that which runs the hospital section and the primary care section.”
He said the Primary, Community and Continuing Care (PCCC) side of the HSE had initially estimated that it would cost something of the order of €750,000 to provide home care on a 24-7 basis.
However, the family’s research indicates that this could be done for a fraction that, so they actually made a saving for the HSE in respect of the potential cost.
Senator Ó Clochartaigh asked Minister of State Finian McGrath to intervene as quickly as possible in the situation.
In reply, Tuam native Minister McGrath said he had asked the HSE for a report on the case.
“The HSE has informed that the person concerned is in a high dependency unit in University Hospital Galway and is in need of 24-hour care,” he said.
“I understand from the HSE that it is in discussion with the family on the appropriate options for the person’s discharge from the UHG. The HSE community health care organisation for Area 2, which covers Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, has assured me that it is actively engaging on an ongoing basis with the family with regard to the most suitable and appropriate care for the person.”
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