British Medical Association Northern Ireland supports public financing of long term care

The BMA in Northern Ireland has spoken out in favour of free personal and nursing care.  Speaking,yesterday, following the debate in the NI Assembly on free personalcare, BMA(NI) Chairman, Dr Brian Patterson, said: “The BMA has beencalling for free personal care for several years now.  “Webelieve that many elderly people are being heavily penalised by havingto pay for their personal care and at a time when they are mostvulnerable and can ill afford to do so.”  BMA(NI) says that longterm care, personal and nursing care, should be defined as includingall care received by people unable to live at home without support. Itshould embrace long term care in hospitals, nursing and residentialhomes, and the health and social services support people receive intheir own homes.  Dr Patterson continued: “Free personal carealso needs to be offered to anyone who needs it, irrespective of theirage. Often young people suffering from chronic conditions will needlong-term support and their families are frequently left to provide thenursing and/or personal care required. This must be addressed andchanged.  “We firmly believe that Scotland has got it right and we want to see a similar model put in place for Northern Ireland.”

Source:  OnMedica.com, http://www.onmedica.net/content.asp?c=40295&t=1