A new national helpline to assist around 275,000 people illegally charged for public nursing home care has been flooded with calls, it emerged today.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has reassured people that there is no urgency in contacting the information line.
The National Repayments Scheme Enquiry service was set up after the recent Supreme Court judgment found a Health Bill had illegally charged elderly patients for nearly 30 years.
A spokeswoman for the HSE said: "The information line which opened this morning had been inundated with calls from 9 a.m."
She added: "Due to this unprecedented volume of calls a number of people had been unable to get through."
The HSE said no deadline had been set for people to make contact with the National Repayments Scheme Enquiry for the refund of an estimated €500 million to elderly patients.
Mr Pat Gaughan, chairman of the HSE National Steering Group, said: "The scheme will help people or their families who believe they are due a repayment to register in advance."
He said people should ensure they have details of the patient, the name and address of long-stay centres and the date of admission to the nursing home.
The Government is to set out detailed policy for how the HSE will run the repayments scheme.
- Anyone seeking information on the scheme can also look at www.hse.ie as well as the helpline 1800 77 77 37.
PA