Annual survey: The average weekly price of a bed in a private nursing home in the State is now €640, up 10 per cent on the 2004 price rates, according to new research. Bed costs range from €810 per week in the northern area of the HSE's Eastern Region, to €516 per bed in the North-Western Region.
The research is part of an annual survey of the private nursing homes industry carried out for the Irish Nursing Homes Organisation (INHO).
It will be launched at the organisation's annual conference in Dublin where the issue of private nursing home inspections is expected to feature high on the agenda.
INHO chairman Paul Costello told The Irish Times yesterday that what surprised him was that the cost of delivering services in private nursing homes had risen so much since the last survey. Staffing costs had risen by 18 per cent, he said, and this "had to be borne in mind when the HSE says we have to get value for money".
He said the INHO did not have a problem with this, but it must be recognised "that there is a difference between bargain hunting for beds and seeking value for money".
He said that in the abscence of a mimimum level of standards, price could be driven down to a level where care was compromised. He said the cost of looking after the elderly should be properly costed and the INHO fully supported high standards. However, he said this was clearly going to add to overall costs.
Mr Costello said the INHO was conducting an independent exercise to properly cost nursing home care. He said that current regulations only state that one nurse should be on 24 hours per day in nursing homes, and staffing levels should be adequate to reflect the number of patients.
According to Horwath Bastow Charleton, who conducted the survey, there are a number of reasons for variations in the weekly rate between different locations.
These include significantly higher land costs and values in the greater Dublin area and in other cities, as opposed to rural locations; significant differences in the hourly wage rates in different parts of the country; and differences in overhead costs. The survey also found over the past two years, the number of beds in private nursing homes had risen by 1,000 or 18.5 per cent.