Michael Healy-Rae
Question:1575. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will commit to financially helping private nursing homes (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37586/23]
View answerMonday, 11 September 2023
Questions (1575)
Written answers
I can confirm that I recently held a roundtable discussion with private nursing home provider representative groups and will continue to engage with them going forward.
Discussions on next year’s Estimates and Budget 2024 are ongoing and a wide range of initiatives are under consideration.
Budget 2023 saw over €40 million in additional funding for Fair Deal which is providing for an uplift in the maximum prices chargeable by private and voluntary nursing homes, as negotiated.
Overall, nearly €1.5 billion of the total Health Budget for 2023 is allocated to support people under the Nursing Home Support Scheme (Fair Deal).
It should also be noted that the Department of Health and I have regular interaction with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) and have met them to discuss ways to support the sector, where necessary and appropriate, to complement the normal process of negotiating rate increases when contracts are renewed.
Any nursing home which has had a scheduled renegotiation of their Deed of Agreement with the NTPF this year has seen a significant uplift. These new contracts have seen an average baseline increase in price per bed of between 6% and 7%.
The Government is cognisant of private and voluntary nursing homes that are not scheduled to renegotiate their Deed of Agreement in 2023. One of the options under consideration is for nursing home providers to agree to a shorter contract duration with the NTPF.
There is no other mechanism for funding from the public purse for nursing home residents outside the Nursing Home Support Scheme. It is imperative that private and voluntary providers continue to engage in the process as set out in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009.
A short-term extension to the Temporary Inflation Payment Scheme (TIPS), introduced last year to help with increased energy costs due to inflation, is currently under review.
The Department of Health acknowledges that there are variations in the cost of care across public centres as well as across private nursing homes, with HSE Community Nursing Units generally having a higher cost of care.
In December 2021, the Department published the independently chaired Value for Money review on nursing home costs. The review found that the cost differential is largely driven by variances in staff-to-resident ratios and the skill mix in public and private nursing homes.
The Value for Money Review made nine recommendations which the Department continues to take forward. It should be noted that many of the recommendations from the report were already in progress and overlap with existing reforms.