Special Interest Group on Ageing (SIGA)

2010 / 11            Chairperson:                     John Brennan

                             Secretary:                           Kristen Murphy

SIGA AGM 2010:

John Brennan remained on as Honorary Chairperson. Kristen Murphy remained on as Honorary Secretary. 

Representation:

Patricia Daly and Denise O’Brien retired during the year. We wish them both well and many thanks for all their input to the group over the years. 

Issues of concern addressed by members of the SIGA during the year. Most, if not all of the issues raised in last year’s report continued to spring up as agenda items during the year –the ‘Fair deal’ process; advocacy, mediation, the effects of the severe and continuing reduction in many services; the inconsistencies and inequities within the health and social care systems amongst others. 

IASW had representation on a number of committees set up by the HSE during the year – a Home Care Package Task Group and a Working Group to draft a standardised assessment tool (SAT) for older person who apply for formal care. The work of these two groups continues into 2011. One fundamental change that the Task Group has initiated is the dropping of the financial assessment for packages (including the necessity to have a medical card). There is no legal mandate for demanding any financial information. Most HSE areas appear to be adhering to this ruling, however there have been reports of demands being made on older people to complete financial assessment or have a medical card. A new Community Services Bill is currently being drafted to address the issues of assessment entitlements and charging for community services. 

IASW was also represented through the SIGA on the HSE’s Elderly Care Programme chaired by Prof Diarmuid O’Shea from St Vincent’s University Hospital.

With the country’s financial circumstances in such a bad way, the HSE continued their cutbacks to home care packages, home help and other community based services for older persons. There are widespead waiting lists across the country. 

There has been no word on the Draft Scheme of Mental Capacity Bill (2008).

Rumour has it that there is no money to implement some of its sections, for example the guardianship item, and that this has been the stumbling block to-date. 

Despite their introduction a number of years ago, the Elder Abuse Senior Caseworker posts have not advanced in any consistent way and many remain without appropriate line management structures.

This situation has created difficulties for the Caseworkers in developing the service.

Projects:

A sub-group on ‘mediation and social work’ prepared a draft policy paper for IASW. 

Community based social work services:

Community social work posts were established in more health board areas during the year. However, as with many other services, the process appeared to be ad-hoc and the SIGA is concerned that structures, such as line management, have not been established in any consistent manner. 

In many areas, community-based social workers are involved in fostering assessments alongside working with adults who have been referred. In some other areas, the primary care social workers have been re-assigned to child protection work. In the first instance, the situation dilutes what is still a minimal social work service to adults. In the second, more seriously, the situation flies in the face of the policy to develop multi-disciplinary primary care teams. 

Meetings:

The Special Interest Group met monthly over the past year in the Royal Hospital Donnybrook. The meetings have been less well-attended than previous years, but generally they have been lively and very useful sessions. The small turnout is a pity given the need for solidarity at this critical time for public services in Ireland. 

The whole area of service provision for the care of older people is undergoing rapid transformation and considerable cutbacks which are impacting heavily on the ability of social workers to provide and source realistic community or alternative supports for both the older person and their carers. Increasingly social workers have to bear the brunt of these service changes in engaging with clients and their families and it

is important that social workers support each other in coping with a rapidly changing landscape which limits the potential for realistic and practical interventions. 

SIGA provides both professional peer support through the meetings by way of exchange of both service information and coping strategies for problematic situations. At the same time SIGA provides a forum where both policy and professional issues can be addressed, processed and represented within the IASW / wider policy and HSE fora. 

With registration pending it is even more important for us as IASW members to keep abreast of all professional developments in our field and SIGA provides this space on a monthly basis. We therefore encourage both management and staff to promote attendance at the monthly SIGA meeting on the basis that it will support our members’ best practice in the field, while offering easy access to an important peer support mechanism and network. 

Finally:

Many thanks to the Royal Hospital Donnybrook for once again facilitating our meetings and to Carmel, Social Work Secretary in the hospital for her continued administrative support.