Scheme 'intolerable' if it results in waiting lists

THE ORGANISATION that represents nursing homes has said the fair deal scheme will be “intolerable” if it results in waiting lists for elderly patients.

Nursing Homes Ireland chief executive Tadhg Daly said the fact that the HSE was provided with a set level of funding for the scheme each year meant that some elderly people may end up on waiting lists.

He pointed to a passage in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme information booklet which stated that a person’s name may go on a waiting list until funding became available.

Mr Daly also said that the deal did not include many areas of treatment that people would have thought should be included. Among them were social programmes, all therapies, incontinence wear and chiropody.

Age Action Ireland also warned that the Government must ensure the scheme was adequately funded so that everyone assessed as being in need of a nursing home bed could get one.

The organisation, which represents the concerns of elderly people, gave a broad welcome to the announcement in relation to the start of the scheme, but urged the Government to revise its terms.

Under the agreements reached between the nursing home owners and the National Treatment Purchase Fund, the charge does not include the cost of basic care needs for non-medical card holders such as incontinence wear, physiotherapy, chiropody or specialised wheelchairs.

“These are basic needs for every nursing home resident, regardless of whether or not they hold a medical card, and should be included in the services covered by the deal,” Age Action spokesman Eamon Timmins said.

Labour health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan welcomed the start of the scheme but also expressed reservations about the possibility of waiting lists and the absence of funding for services such as physiotherapy and chiropody.

“How can they pay for those out of the small amount of money they will have left when 80 per cent of their disposable income goes under ‘Fair Deal’?” she asked.

Minister for Older People and Health Promotion Áine Brady said the Fair Deal scheme would free families from the anxiety over financial commitments for the care of their loved ones.

She said 12,000 applications were expected and those who wished to apply should familiarise themselves with the application process so as to be ready to apply to the HSE on October 27th.

Ms Brady also said that, depending on a person’s capacity to apply for the nursing home loan, a person may, from yesterday, apply for the appointment of a care representative through the Circuit Court.