Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2023
1254. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health if he will step in to ensure a person, details supplied, and the other residents of Beaumont residential care in Cork are not made homeless and are provided with the care that they need; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28237/23]
View answerI am really sorry to hear that Beaumont Residential Care has decided to withdraw from the Fair Deal scheme and I understand the level of stress and worry this must have caused residents and their families.
This is a commercial decision that has been made by the nursing home provider to withdraw from the Fair Deal scheme. The only mechanism for funding from the public purse for nursing home residents is Fair Deal and it is really important that private and voluntary providers continue to engage in the process as set out in the Nursing Home Support Scheme Act 2009. Across the country, approximately 425 private nursing homes negotiate with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) as part of the usual process. Anyone who has had a scheduled renegotiation of their Deed of Agreement this year with the NTPF has seen a significant uplift in the rates they receive.
The NTPF has statutory independence, and there is no role for Ministers or the Department of Health in negotiations with individual nursing homes.
Fair Deal was designed to protect and support vulnerable older people, to ensure equal access to nursing home care based on what they could afford. This gives certainty to people and families. Government funding for Fair Deal is to support vulnerable older people at a time in their lives where full time care is essential. I know that this is a very difficult decision for people and their families and it often takes place at a time of crisis.
Over €1.5 billion has been allocated for Fair Deal this year and I am conscious that it must support all Fair Deal residents for the full year.
I established a new €10 million scheme (TIPS) last year to support private and voluntary nursing homes with increases in energy costs, covering 75% of year-on-year cost increases up to a monthly cap of €5,250 per nursing home. This scheme is now extended for a second time up until the end of June 2023. All nursing homes continue to receive free PPE and oxygen on a weekly basis, costing approximately €75 million to date. In addition, since January 2022 over €5 million has been paid in additional payments to private nursing homes to support residents with very complex care needs and high levels of acuity.
It is really important that nursing homes manage potential cost pressures in line with their regulatory and contractual responsibilities, maintaining their quality of care so that residents’ lived experience and comfort is not affected.
In addition, should services close, residents must either be catered for within the existing system, with its reduced capacity, or, ultimately, the HSE will step in as the statutory provider of last resort.
The HSE will always step in where a resident’s needs are sufficiently complex that they are not able to be cared for elsewhere in the community. The HSE needs to be equipped to deliver that kind of complex care through its Community Nursing Units.
In relation to the issue that you have raised with me, the HSE will support families in a situation where a private nursing home is no longer able or willing to provide care under Fair Deal to a loved one.
I would like to reiterate my understanding of how distressing this situation has been for residents, their families and the staff of the nursing home.
My understanding is that engagement continues between the nursing home provider and the NTPF, which is the only way to resolve this issue.
