Dublin South West Sinn F\u00e9in TD, Se\u00e1n Crowe, has questioned the Health Service Executive (HSE) over changes they introduced which he claims have left many elderly incontinent patients with inferior pads. Crowe claims his views are backed by many service users and he has called on the HSE to immediately address the issue.<\/p>\n
The Dublin South West Deputy was responding to a reply he received from the HSE to a Parliamentary Question that he asked on the issue, which suggests that the specifications for incontinent pads is currently under review in advance of any future contracts being awarded.<\/p>\n
Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe said:<\/p>\n
\n“Families of elderly people and children who are incontinent have been in touch with my office regarding changes that have been made to the delivery and type of pads that had been introduced over the last twelve months, which they claim are inferior and have forced them say to double up their usage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese changes are having a negative effect on vulnerable users and their families and this is clearly unacceptable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe HSE\u2019s suggestion in their reply to my parliamentary question that the pads be \u201cfluffed up\u201d might seem reasonable to the authors but disregards the physical ability of many of these users, some of whom also suffer from additional ailments like severe arthritis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do welcome that the specifications for incontinent pads is currently under review in advance of any future contracts being awarded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese pads are vital for the dignity of the user and in many ways help people live a normal independent life.<\/p>\n
“For anyone using these pads, confidence and certainty about their quality, and the sustainability of the product is vital.<\/p>\n
“I suppose the most important factor is that they don’t leak and can be relied on to last for a reasonable period.<\/p>\n
“Many people personally spoke to me of their hardship of having to \u2018double up\u2019 and that \u2018accidents\u2019 were constantly happening.<\/p>\n
“I would hate to think that in the race to save money in the HSE, vulnerable people were being used as guinea pigs for inferior products to somehow save some cash.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis appalling vista is the belief held by many of the individuals who approached my office and led me to submit a D\u00e1il question on their behalf.<\/p>\n
\u201cNumerous families also believe that the availability of pads have also been reduced in recent years, putting further pressure on their finances and their loved ones who are dependent on the pads.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurely we need to be doing everything in our power to support these families and not cutting back on the quality and the basic essentials that necessary to live some sort of normal life. The fact that the present Government is doing this on the background of slashing the respite grant suggests that they give little thought to some of our most vulnerable citizens\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
Note PQ and Reply below:<\/em><\/p>\n
Re: 9958\/15:\u201cTo ask the Minister for Health if he will confirm that the allocation of incontinent<\/em>
\npads for elderly medical patients has been cut and the quality downgraded; and if he will make a<\/em>
\nstatement on the matter\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nDear Deputy Crowe,<\/em><\/p>\n
I refer to the above Parliamentary Questions which has been referred to the Health Service Executive\u00a0for direct response to you.<\/em><\/p>\n
The HSE currently holds a contract with Ontex for Disposable Containment Continence Products for\u00a0Adults and Children.\u00a0There were changes made regarding delivery frequency to in June 2014 by the company, but were\u00a0reversed to previous arrangements from October 2014 due to service user dissatisfaction. The\u00a0guideline allowance for Prescribing Clinicians (Continence Advisors and Public Health Nurses)\u00a0continues to be 4 pads per day \u2013 if this does not suffice, product absorbency requirement is reviewed\u00a0and upgraded.<\/em><\/p>\n
The product supplied by Ontex was changed from \u2018Euron\u2019 to \u2018ID Brand\u2019 in July 2014. The HSE\u00a0were advised by Service Users and Prescribing Clinicians that \u2018ID Brand\u2019 products did not appear to\u00a0have the same absorbency levels as \u2018Euron\u2019; Ontex advised that \u2018ID Brand\u2019 products have the same\u00a0absorbency properties, however they are packed tighter and the material needs to be fluffed prior to\u00a0application to maximise efficiency. The \u2018ID Brand\u2019 Product is within the current HSE contract\u00a0specification.<\/em><\/p>\n
The specification for Disposable Containment Continence Products is currently under review by a\u00a0HSE Technical Group in advance of any future contract tender. This takes into account all feedback\u00a0from Service Users and Staff over the term of the current contract.<\/em><\/p>\n
Prescribing Clinicians recommend allocation based on presenting need – this is a continuous process\u00a0and therefore takes account of the changing needs of the individual Service User. The minimal\u00a0frequency of assessment recommended is annually, as outlined in the NICE guidelines. The HSE\u00a0recommend 6 monthly Service User reviews where possible.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dublin South West Sinn F\u00e9in TD, Se\u00e1n Crowe, has questioned the Health Service Executive (HSE) over changes they introduced which he claims have left many elderly incontinent patients with inferior pads. Crowe claims his views are backed by many service users and he has called on the HSE to immediately address the issue. The Dublin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-pq"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2113"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2115,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2113\/revisions\/2115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}