MINISTER MUST URGENTLY ADDRESS INCREASE IN ELDER ABUSE - KENNY

Posted on July 25, 2013 2:22 PM   |   Permanent Link   

Labour TD and member of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Sean Kenny, has called on Minister for Health James Reilly to deal with the issue of elder abuse as a matter of urgency.

"The HSE has published its review of the HSE's Elder Abuse Services for 2012 and this also includes statistics in relation to elder abuse referrals. I was extremely concerned to see that in 2012, the HSE received 2,460 referrals of elder abuse to its service. This is an increase of 7% from 2011."

"While I am aware that there is a greater awareness of the issue of elder abuse and that the National Elder Abuse Steering Committee of the HSE is working on awareness campaigns, providing training to healthcare staff and co-hosting an annual conference that coincides with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, more really needs to be done to reduce elder abuse. I am really concerned about this, particularly as there has been an increase of 30% in referrals since the first full year of data collection in 2008."

"Most alleged abuse is perpetrated by a family member. There was an increase in cases of son or daughter being the alleged perpetrator at 46%, while the partner, husband or wife was implicated in 17% of referrals and other relative in 20% of cases, which is shocking. Older people simply should not be suffering abuse. It is unconscionable that it should continue. These figures are very disturbing and the Minister for Health needs to act now in order to reduce and eliminate this sort of abuse."

"While there are services available for those people and it is encouraging that a greater number of older people are coming forward each year to voice their concerns, I would urge anyone who is concerned about abuse to seek help and support from the HSE which has a dedicated service in place for older people experiencing abuse and I again would emphasise that Government needs to do more on this issue."