Just 11% of nursing homes have dementia care units

Only 11 per cent of nursing homes have dedicated dementia care units, according to the first national survey of dementia care in nursing homes.

The researchers identified large gaps in service provision, especially in Leinster, and excessive numbers of patients in individual housing units.

It found that certain areas are well supplied while other areas have either limited or no provision.

Counties Sligo, Wicklow, Carlow, Kilkenny Westmeath and Offaly have no specialist provision.

The findings are contained in a report entitled, An Irish National Survey of Dementia in Long-Term Residential Care, which was launched by Adjunct Professor in Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin, Prof Davis Coakley, in the Trinity Long Room.

Chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland Tadhg Daly said there was an absence of Government policy around the long-term care sector for people with dementia.

“This report is very timely and yet another ‘eye-opener’ for Government and policy stakeholders. We wholeheartedly welcome the research findings that the complex and high-dependency needs of persons with dementia need to be realistically reflected in better resource allocation,” he said.

“The current methodology of funding long-term residential care through the Fair Deal scheme is working as an active disincentive to developing dementia specific care because it is not recognising the complexity and the high-care needs in terms of staff, training and physical environment that is required by people with dementia.”

Identifying trends

There are 48,000 people living with the illness and 50,000 carers in Ireland.

However, despite a significant increase in the number of people presenting with the condition, there is a lack of comprehensive information available to the medical community and families about the state of dementia care nationally.

This research, carried out in late 2013, set out to address this gap and to identify the demographic and infrastructural trends in the sector.

The researchers surveyed 602 nursing homes in Ireland. Some 469 responded, of which only 54 - or 11 per cent - provided dementia-specific segregated care in small-scale domestic units.

This compares with up to 33 per cent in other countries such as the Netherlands and Norway where their respective governments have set targets to increase this type of long-term care.

The survey also identified that the bulk of the specialist care (63 per cent) was provided by the private sector.

Only 66 respite beds catering for the 30,000 Irish people now known to be living with dementia in the community were identified across the 54 units surveyed (6 per cent of all beds).

The report shows that the private sector provides the majority of the high-dependency care, but receives the least funding.

According to the Trinity researchers, the report underlines the need for a new funding model to further incentivise the private sector.