Results of a survey released today show there has a been a significant slowdown in the rate of increase of beds in private nursing homes.
The survey, carried out by the Irish Nursing Homes Organisation (INHO), finds there was an increase of 187 beds in private homes in 2006. There were 1,200 more beds provided the previous year.
Sixteen new nursing homes opened in 2006, but 14 others closed. Of the private nursing homes around the State, 29 per cent said they planned to expand their premises in the next year.
The survey also found there was an occupancy rate of 89.4 per cent in the country's 18,000 private nursing home beds, an increase of 3 per cent over 2005.
INHO chief executive Tadhg Daly today called on Minister for Health Mary Harney to fill the 11.6 per cent of empty beds with long-term patients from acute hospitals.
"These beds could be used to remove people from the acute hospital system that could be more appropriately cared for elsewhere, easing some of the pressure on the system", said Mr Daly.
The survey found that on average, nursing homes were inspected by Health Service Executive staff 2.2 times in the last year. They are obliged under law to undergo at least one inspection every six months.
"The INHO is continuing to work towards a situation where the general public can have full confidence in every nursing home in the country," Mr Daly said. "Publishing clear and unbiased information on the industry is a vital part of that process".