Back in February I posted on cuts to home help. My offices here in the Hutt Valley have been dealing with a steady stream of complaints from older residents who’ve had home help hours cut. Last week the Hutt News picked up the issue and on Friday I met with staff from the Hutt Valley DHB to talk about it. I generally have a very good working relationship with our local DHB and I think that overall they’re doing a great job. However on this particular issue I still have real concerns.
The Hutt News article revealed some salient statistics. Between October 2008 and December 2009 reviews of home help to 1950 Hutt Valley elders were carried out. 810 had hours cut, 820 had no change, and just 320 got more hours. In the 12 months to Jan 2009 the DHB spent $3.9 million on home help. Last year they cut $700,000 out of that spend. I simply don’t accept that cost-cutting isn’t part of the agenda here.
Cutting home help is so short-sighted. We should be trying to keep our older citizens in their own homes as long as possible. If a few hours help with the housework and/or grocery shopping helps them to do that then why penny-pinch? More people in rest homes will cost the health system a lot more than a few home help hours will.
