February 03, 2025
The Government notes the press release from the GSD regarding Home Support and Domiciliary Care services. While the Government acknowledges and indeed accepts that some challenges remain in service provision, it also wants to point out that these exact criticisms were addressed in Parliament and conveniently overlooked by Ms Sanchez.
Minister Arias-Vasquez has regularly shared complaint data with the GSD in Parliament, a level of transparency that was not previously available under subcontracted providers. The reality is that under past arrangements, many complaints were handled internally by private contractors and never formally recorded by the Care Agency. The higher number of complaints reported now reflects the fact that the Care Agency is now proactively calling service users on a monthly basis from September 2024 and recording them as complaints, if they are deemed to be complaints. This means that whereas previously complaints were received by each of the providers and were unknown to the Care Agency, this has now changed with the Care Agency actively collating data. This is an important factor which Ms Sanchez is choosing to ignore.
Ms Sanchez refers to statements made by the Minister for Health and Care, the Hon Gemma Arias-Vasquez, in February 2024 regarding a survey on domiciliary care services. The GSD’s attempt to contrast these statements with subsequent complaint figures fails to provide proper context and is designed to mislead the public and create unnecessary concern.
Minister Arias-Vasquez has always been transparent in acknowledging areas that require improvement. Although this is an area that has improved enormously, and has seen unprecedented investment, the Government accepts there is always more that can be done.
The Care Agency has taken proactive measures to rectify issues and has expressed its concern to LifeCome Care. These new measures include:
Notably, complaints have steadily decreased in recent weeks, with a substantial drop in January 2025 following restructuring efforts within LifeCome Care. The GSD’s claim that service levels have deteriorated does not correlate with the data obtained.
The Minister for Health and Care, the Hon Gemma Arias-Vasquez, said: “The Government’s focus is exclusively on delivering the best possible care to those who rely on these hugely important services. The GSD’s attempt to politicise this issue does nothing to help service users or staff. We need to continuously seek to improve the service 365 days a year. This is what we continuously aim to do – without the need to manipulate facts for political purposes. Domiciliary care service provision has been increased tenfold by this Government from that offered by the GSD. The unprecedented investment in packages of care that this Government has invested in should be celebrated. It is reassuring that satisfaction levels remain high at 89.5% and Ms Sanchez should welcome that. This is a factual reality which cannot be disputed.”