HSEnursing homefeesare ‘ascandal’
be addressed by Government, NHI has warned.
‘Failure to do so threatens the sustainability of the private and voluntary nursing home sector and the vital services provided,’ said the NHI.
It has called on the State to immediately engage with the private and voluntary nursing home sector to provide for the true costs incurred of meeting the high dependency care needs of residents in private and voluntary nursing homes.
NHI said it wanted an equitable system be established for the financing of nursing home care under the Fair Deal, whether HSE, private or voluntary.
It has also called upon the Public Accounts Committee to investigate the level of spending by the State within its own operated nursing homes. There is no requirement for the HSE to negotiate payments for each of its nursing homes. Yet private and voluntary nursing homes are being coerced into accepting fees that do not reflect the true costs of providing nursing home care. ‘The State is discriminating in a scandalous way against private and voluntary providers,’ said NHI chief executive Tadhg Daly. ‘The State is operating a two-tier funding system and has fought for five years not to disclose these figures.
‘It is unacceptable that private and voluntary providers are forced to provide care for fees way below those paid to the HSE counterparts,’ said Mr Daly. ‘It is a case of one law for HSE operated nursing homes and a completely different one for the private and voluntary providers who are squeezed into accepting fees that are not reflective of the true cost.’