TASC Policy Brief: The home care sector post COVID-19
COVID-19 confirms the need for a radical shift in Ireland’s home care policy and how we treat our care workers. The pandemic has laid bare deep systemic flaws in the home care sector and has exposed the lasting impacts of an undervalued care workforce and policies aimed at cutting costs.
These flaws long predate the current crisis and are characteristic of Ireland’s system of home care in ‘normal’ times. However, as with many aspects of how our society operates, COVID-19 has shone a light on home care and how significant it is to the care of older people and our health system.
For example, home care is necessary to alleviate pressure on an oversubscribed hospital sector. A key aim of Sláintecare, the ten-year programme to transform Ireland’s health and social care services, involves shifting the delivery of care away from institutions and towards the community.