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Hilda and Ken Sachtler - Source: ONE News -
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The elderly in the deep South are upset as their soon-to-be merged health boards have announced they are slashing home-help services.
House cleaning services may even disappear altogether.
Still proudly in their own home in their 90s, Hilda and Ken Sachtler receive an hour and a half of housework a week from the Otago DHB.
But over the next three months, the Sachtlers and 2,000 other elderly people in Otago and Southland who receive up to an hour and a half home help a week will get a letter saying that it is coming to an end.
"We don't like the thought of losing it," says Ken.
The new combined Otago/Southland DHB is facing a projected deficit of more than $20 million.
"I think essentially we're having to make these cuts because we're providing a level of service that we can no longer afford," says David Chrisp, Otago DHB planning and funding manager.
One of the home help providers, Presbyterian Support, is disappointed over the decision.
"I'm not sure that cutting out one and a half hours to a whole lot of vulnerable elderly is actually the best way to go about it," says Gillian Bremner from Presbyterian Support.
Elderly southerners receiving more than 90 minutes help a week will be re-assessed by phone and their doctor's views will also be considered.
"We'll look at it on an individual by individual basis for those higher needs people," says Chrisp.
For the Sachtlers and many others like them the future is suddenly a little less certain.
