Elderly patients been kept in hospital due to lack of funding
Half of elderly patients who are well enough to be discharged from hospital and need to convalesce in a nursing home have to stay in hospital due to a lack of funding. Some of these patients are waiting for a bed to become free in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire to convalesce in after experiencing an accident. The Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has referred to these patients as being “trapped”.
Between now and 2024 the elderly population is going to increase to about 200,000. This means that elderly people who need to avail of nursing homes will rise by one third in that time period. The State will need to spend about €1.3 billion a year on the Fair Deal Scheme in order to accommodate this growing elderly population with care.
The Nursing Homes Support Scheme, also known as the “Fair Deal”, provides financial support to people who need long-term nursing home care. The scheme is operated by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Under this scheme, you make a contribution towards the cost of your care and the State pays the balance. The scheme covers approved private nursing homes, voluntary nursing homes and public nursing homes (taken from the Citizen Information website)
Will that happen? Can the Government afford it? Will they prioritise it?
