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COMFORT KEEPERS FIRST HOME CARE PROVIDER TO RECIEVE Q MARK
Comfort Keepers, Ireland’s leading provider of home carers, announced today, 06 November 2009, that they have been awarded the Q Mark for Quality Management Systems by EIQA (Excellence Ireland Quality Association) for quality of service, customer experience and continuous commitment to excellence in their business processes and systems. They are the first and only home care provider in the country to be awarded the prestigious Q Mark. The reception, held at Comfort Keepers new headquarters in Dublin 1, was attended by Mary Harney T.D., Minister for Health and Children. Speaking at the event, the Minister said, “In addition to the introduction recently of new regulatory standards for long term residential care and the Fair Deal scheme, a priority for Government in recent years has also been to develop community based care services for older people. This has involved enhancing the multi-disciplinary approach by the HSE, often in partnership with the voluntary and private sectors.
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Significant additional investment has been made available to this area, including providing additional funding of 120m per annum
to roll out the Home Care Package Initiative. It is generally accepted that the Home Care Package Initiative, as operated by the HSE, is a viable option to supporting a vulnerable, highly dependent cohort to remain at home. My Department earlier this year commissioned PA Consulting Group to evaluate Home Care Packages. This report is now finalised and will shortly be formally submitted to me.”
Said Bob Power, managing director of Comfort Keepers, “Most older people in need of help with everyday living would rather stay in their own homes1 . Standards and consistency in the home care sector are therefore vitally important - clients and their families need to be able to be confident that the person coming into their home is trained, reliable and accountable for providing the highest quality of care. In the absence of national standards in the home care sector, we used the Q Mark accreditation as a way of demonstrating Comfort Keepers’ own high standards and commitment to quality. The NESF in its report on the implementation of Home Care Packages last week reiterated the importance of standards in the delivery of Home Care Packages and we would very much support that position. We call on the Minister to fast-track the introduction of national quality standards for the home care sector. ”
Continues Bob Power, managing director, Comfort Keepers, “For those older people with low and moderate dependency levels, staying at home has economic as well as quality of life benefits. The average cost to a family after tax relief for a Comfort-Keeper, to come in twice a day for a week, |
is between €160 and €190 per week, compared to €640-€880 for nursing home care2 . Excellent work has been done by the Minister and the HSE in the provision of home care packages across the country. It is imperative that the Minister ensure that this valuable and cost effective means of providing long term care and prolonging independent living for older people be maintained in the upcoming budget.”
In 2006, there were 468,000 people age 65 and older in Ireland. Of this 113,000 were in the very old category of 80 years and over. Over the next three decades, that number is expected to more than double reaching almost 1.15m, or over 20% of the population age 65 and over, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office. It has been estimated that 28% of nursing home residents have a low to moderate dependency level and many of these residents might very well have continued to live at home if the right supports had been made available to them at the appropriate time. Comfort Keepers provides high quality care to older people in their own homes in 12 counties and 19 HSE administrative areas. Employing over 350 carers, it has helped over 1,000 older and younger disabled people be cared for at home.
About Comfort Keepers
Comfort Keepers is a family owned home care provider dedicated to helping people remain as independent as possible in their own homes. Our ethos is to care for our clients as we would a member of our own family.
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Bob Power founded Comfort Keepers after his father need some assistance at home. With the help of home care Gerry Power remained at home for 5 years when otherwise he would have required nursing home care. Comfort Keepers prides itself on the professional care it provides that families can trust in. This focus on quality and professionalism is illustrated by Comfort Keepers being the first and only home care provider to be accredited with the Q Mark for Quality. Comfort Keepers offices service 12 counties around Ireland. The majority of Comfort Keepers clients are older people, those recovering from illness or injury or those with disabilities. Comfort Keepers’ carers are carefully screened through a series of six background checks, and are fully insured. All caregivers are employees of Comfort Keepers and Comfort Keepers takes care of paying all employee taxes, including PRSI, so that families do not have to register as employers which they would have to do otherwise. Comfort Keepers offers a wide range of home based, non-medical services ranging from a daily visit, help with personal care to running errands and grocery shopping. 1 Garavan, Winder & McGee and others in No Place Like Home: Domiciliary Care Services for Older People in Ireland,p31, by Timonen, Doyle & Prendergast (2006)
2 Figures for home care and nursing care are calculated to include tax relief. Nursing home figures based on Howarth Bastow Charlton report on Nursing Home Cost of Care in Ireland, 2007.
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