FAIR DEAL NURSING HOME SCHEME:THE DEMAND for the Fair Deal nursing home support scheme has "far outstripped what was anticipated", Minister for Health James Reilly said yesterday.
His comments came a day after it emerged that the €1 billion set aside for the scheme this year will only pay for the 22,000 plus older people already in nursing homes and will not accommodate any new applicants, unless older people who are already in the scheme die.
As a range of groups representing older people urged the Minister to provide emergency funding for the scheme to stave off a crisis for hospitals and older people, Dr Reilly said he was determined to deal with the problem which had arisen.
“I think there are a number of issues that have to be examined, not just budgetary but also around admission policies in different parts of the country,” he said.
The Minister added that he was deeply concerned that it was costing significantly more to cater for older people in public facilities than in private nursing homes.
On average, it costs €1,245 a week for public long-stay beds compared with €875 for private ones but this is because care in a public bed includes the input of specialists and therapists and patients usually have the highest dependency levels.
Dr Reilly said he was “deeply concerned” the net effect of these price differences meant it was costing millions more to cater for patients in public facilities, something which he said was “not sustainable and will be addressed by me”.
The HSE said the numbers joining Fair Deal had been increasing each month.
For example, last December, 663 more people qualified for the scheme and 393 people exited it or died, leaving the net increase in older people who had to be funded at 270. The net increase in March was significantly more at 571 with 899 new people approved for the scheme and only 328 leaving it or dying that month.
While those receiving support for their nursing home care can postpone the cost of that until after their death under Fair Deal, the HSE said just 1,268 people had done this to date.
Meanwhile, Age Action Ireland said the sudden announcement that no new applications for the Fair Deal scheme will be approved by the HSE until further funding is available has caused untold distress among older people who had signed up for the scheme and were waiting to be admitted to a nursing home.
Age Action spokesman Eamon Timmins said the suspension of new applications for the Fair Deal scheme will cause most hardship to older people who are on low incomes, as they will have no option but to go on a waiting list for a bed.
It was imperative, he added, that Dr Reilly provided emergency funding for the scheme to keep it operating while his officials review it.
Prof Des O’Neill, a long-time advocate for older people and a consultant geriatrician, said the Fair Deal scheme was deeply flawed and it was now time for a radical rethink on how long-term care is funded.
It was time to return to some eligibility-based system for long-term care, he said, but he warned this could not be budget-capped, stressing care for cancer patients is not budget-capped.
“What happens next is important. Older people must not be pressurised or made to feel unworthy for being in a hospital bed,” he added.
Tadhg Daly of Nursing Homes Ireland said the news had created shock waves across the system for both older people and nursing homes.
“The health system will grind to a halt if people aren’t being discharged into nursing homes,” he said.
“It’s a disaster for older people primarily but it also has implications for our members in terms of future business plans,” added Mr Daly.