THE ORGANISATION representing private nursing home owners has said it is concerned plans by the Minister for Health to cut the prices paid for nursing home beds under the Fair Deal scheme could affect standards.
Tadhg Daly, chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, made his comments last night after Dr James Reilly announced that the Fair Deal nursing home would reopen next week.
An additional 1,700 nursing home beds will be funded under the scheme, which has been closed to applicants since last month after funding ran out.
Dr Reilly said the funding to allow people join the scheme would be found by cutting fees to private nursing homes by €20 million and by increasing the long stay in-patient charge. He said the National Treatment Purchase Fund had increased fees paid to nursing homes under the scheme by 4 per cent last October and he had now ordered it to renegotiate.
Mr Daly said the higher fees were due to increased demands placed on nursing homes by the Health Information and Quality Authority.