An independent report commissioned by the Department of Health shows "the extent of discrimination" against private nursing homes in State funding of resident care, the sector's representative body has said.
A value for money report published last week on fees paid under the State’s “Fair Deal” financial support scheme for those in long-term nursing home care, showed that public nursing homes were paid 62 per cent more per resident per week than private nursing homes.
The report, by representatives from the Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform among other State bodies, found that the average price paid to a private and voluntary nursing home from the Nursing Home Support Scheme (NHSS) was €992 per resident per week compared with €1,616 for public nursing homes.
Public nursing homes incurred additional costs of €100 per resident per week on average that were covered by wider health budgets, which if charged to the NHSS, would put the cost differential at 73 per cent.
Care needs
The report found that between 2015 and 2019 the number of people receiving NHSS funding increased by 2.4 per cent to 23,629, yet the average price charges to the scheme for a public nursing home per resident per week increased by 13.3 per cent from €1,426 to €1,616.
In 2015, the price per resident per week paid to a public nursing home was on average €523 more than the price paid to a private nursing home. By 2019, this had risen to €624.
The study found that there was little difference in the levels of resident dependency between the public and the private nursing homes that participated in the study.
Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI), which represents private nursing homes that make up 80 per cent of the older persons care sector, said that the report refutes the long-standing HSE contention that its nursing homes provide care to residents with higher dependence care needs.
NHI chief executive Tadhg Daly said that report presents "a damning indictment that highlights the discrimination in how the State funds nursing home resident care".
‘Threat’
He said the funding discrimination in nursing home care had been “exacerbated” by the Covid-19 pandemic and there was “a threat to sustainability” with some smaller nursing homes having to close.
“Something has to give sooner rather than later in terms of resourcing,” he said.
The “Fair Deal” scheme has been in operation since 2009 at an annual cost of just more than €1 billion. Participants contribute 80 per cent of their assessable income and a maximum of 7.5 per cent of the value of any assets, or half these amounts if they are part of a couple.
The first €36,000 of a person’s assets, or €72,000 for a couple, is not counted in the financial assessment and a person’s home is only included in assessments for the first three years.
