The HSE, the Health Service Executive, has said it expects to make applications for nursing home refunds on behalf of up to 10,000 patients who are deemed to be non compos mentis and who were illegally charged for a public bed in nursing or residential homes.
However, a spokesman for Age Action Ireland expressed concern yesterday that family members of these patients may be excluded from the decision-making process with regard to the use of the refunded money.
Under legislation introduced to allow the nursing home refunds, individuals who are deemed not to be sufficiently competent to apply for their own refund are represented by the HSE. Exceptions are patients who have been made wards of court and those who have previously granted enduring power of attorney to a relative or other individual.
The HSE is also finalising overall procedures and guidelines for a fund to maximise the return on any refunds paid to the individuals concerned. The fund, which will be added to an existing €65 million "private property" (or savings) fund for individuals in long-term care, could eventually be worth up to €150 million, according to informed sources.
The €150 million figure is based on the HSE's estimate that up to 10,000 such individuals - or roughly half of all living patients entitled to expect a refund - will receive average awards of €15,000, although some awards may be higher.
The fund will most likely be overseen by a senior HSE finance executive, with individual awards paid into accounts which are a part of this fund.
The decision to allow the HSE to act on behalf of incapacitated patients was introduced to prevent exploitation of those who receive repayments and who are not in a position to manage their own affairs.
Gerard Scully of Age Action Ireland yesterday acknowledged that some vulnerable people may be open to abuse by unscrupulous relatives, but the organisation had received calls from concerned relatives and carers about the matter. "In a lot of cases, you're talking about relatives who have cared for an older person for a number of years and who are now being excluded from participating in the affairs of their older relative," he said.
Age Action fear that they were going to be excluded and put in the hands of a person "who doesn't really know that person. We would like to see family members put into any committee [ deciding what happens to the money] with others from the HSE".
Bernard Haddigan of the HSE told The Irish Times that its duty of care related to the well-being of the patient in question. Those administering the awards to individual patients - which will be a small group of HSE staff involved in the patient's care - were legally required to apply for the money on their behalf, he said.
An estimated 70,000 people or their estates who were illegally charged for a public bed in nursing or residential homes can apply for repayment under the €1 billion repayment scheme, which started earlier this month.