§ Mr. Mallonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the inflation-adjusted cost of the home help care service in the constituency of Newry and Armagh during 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986 respectively.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer, 2 November 1987]: The costs of the home help service provided in the Armagh/ Dungannon and Newry/Mourne units of management are as follows:
£1 1983–84 2,799,314 1984–85 2,737,926 1985–86 2,913,641 1986–87 22,856,046 1 At 1985–86 prices. 2 Provisional.
§ Mr. Mallonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the number of recipients of home help care in the constituency of Newry and Armagh in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986 respectively.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 2 November 1987]: The numbers who received home help service in the Newry and Mourne and Armagh and Dungannon units of management were:
Newry and Mourne Armagh and Dungannon 1983 1,817 1,953 1984 1,848 1,772 1985 1,958 1,987 1986 1,576 1,921
§ Mr. Mallonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total number of recipients of home help care in Northern Ireland in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986 respectively.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 2 November 1987]: The information is as follows:
28,023, 28,318, 29,602 and 29,897 respectively.
§ Mr. Mallonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will initiate a review of the home help care service in Northern Ireland to establish the cost of the service during 1986 and the savings achieved by the Department of Health and Social Services as a result of the home help care service reducing the number of sick, aged and disabled who would otherwise have needed to be admitted to hospital or residential care during the same period.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 2 November 1987]: No. The Department of Health and Social Services has 784W recognised in its regional strategy for 1987–92 that a wide range of domiciliary and other community services is essential in ensuring that people are admitted to long-stay care, whether in hospital or residential accommodation, only where this is essential.
The Department has also indicated that it intends to test this strategy by means of a programme of evaluation and monitoring, but a review related only to one component of the range of services which comprise community care would not be appropriate.