Bantry man battling stage four illness was released from hospital after three months with no supports.

AN elderly patient with stage four prostate cancer was left without any home care after being discharged from hospital due to a staffing shortage.

Cornelius Burke (82), who lives in an isolated area near Bantry, was recently discharged from Bantry General Hospital after three months’ treatment for cancer which has spread to his bones.

But once back home Cornelius, who is partially blind, has found himself without any home support to help with daily care or medication leaving him and his family struggling to cope.

His niece, Eileen Hayes, who lives an hour away near Cork city, said the lack of available carers had placed a strain on families.

‘There’s no home care package any more and it’s having an effect on families,’

Eileen said. ‘I work full-time and I live in Cork, but our family has been there for him.

‘After he came out of hospital he was getting used to being on his own and he started to reject help. It would have been a different story if they had already arranged for someone to be there for four or five days a week. He doesn’t realise his care needs and he thinks he can manage on his own, but he can’t.’

Eileen criticised ‘a huge shortage of home help support’ adding that the family has now arranged private care three days a week, and is receiving help from charity Cancer Connect to bring Cornelius to medical appointments.

Eileen said she has also taken days off work to accompany her uncle for the hospital visits, where he receives his injections.

Last week, after weeks of uncertainty, she received a call from the region’s Home Support Services Co-ordinator offering one day of State-provided home support each week.

‘It’s something and we’re thankful for it,’ Eileen said, ‘but we need to get him private care for three other days to make it work.’

The issue has been raised by TD Michael Collins (Ind Ire).

He claimed the government’s recent amended Home Support Providers Bill 2025 did ‘nothing to address the severe shortages of home support services’.

He said: ‘These cases illustrate a system in crisis where older and vulnerable people are left without essential support at home, forcing impossible choices between unwanted nursing home admission or no care at all.’

The TD said the bill needed to do more to tackle the exploitation of home support workers, who often faced contract breaches like mismatched hours and unpaid splitshift wait times.

Cllr John Michael Foley (FG) raised the home support issue at a meeting of Cork County Council.

He said it was an issue close to his heart as his mother, a wheelchair user for 38 years, is now receiving home care after suffering a stroke.

‘I know that in cases like the gentleman’s with stage-four cancer, the HSE hire private companies to look after patients at home,’ he said. ‘The biggest problem is recruiting staff . It’s a constant battle.’

A spokesperson for HSE South West said it is unable to comment on individual cases but it delivers home support services to ‘as many clients as possible in West Cork in the face of a challenging recruitment environment and an increasing demand for home support’.