To ask the Minister of Health for an update on (i) his Department's course of action if a hospital patient is ready for discharge, but requires a home care package that is unable to be provided; (ii) his Department's course of action when a person living on their own home has their care package stopped or reduced to the point where their needs are not being met; and (iii) his efforts to ensure enough domiciliary care packages are available for everyone who needs one.

(i): On the 29th September 2022 my department issued a letter to the 5 Health and Social Care Trusts outlining actions to be taken if a domiciliary care package has been offered as part of discharge planning from hospital but this is not available, the patient should be offered a place in an appropriate care home on a temporary basis if their needs cannot be met safely at home without some form of support. Throughout the duration that an appropriate domiciliary care package is not available it was agreed that the care home fees would be waived. This is extant.

(ii): A prescribed domiciliary care package is based on an individual’s assessed need at that time. There is evidence that for some patients when discharged to the familiar surroundings of their own home and with family and other informal supports they can make improvements in their recovery journey. All packages of domiciliary care are subject to regular professional review. If an individual is assessed as no longer requiring a domiciliary care package or requires a reduction to their existing domiciliary care package, this will be actioned. This in turn frees up domiciliary care hours that can then be utilised for other service users who require a domiciliary care package.

(iii): There is work ongoing through the Social Care Collaborative Forum to identify how we can grow the domiciliary care workforce and also how we can maximize the current resources to reduce unmet need and put in place appropriate support for those who wish to remain living at home for as long as possible.