The future of many public nursing homes is in doubt because of their failure to meet accommodation standards set by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa). It does not surprise. Long-term failure to modernise these facilities prompted former minister for health James Reilly to predict – four years ago – that up to two-thirds of State nursing home beds could close. There has been practically no capital investment since then.
Discussions are continuing between Hiqa and the Health Service Executive concerning the renewal of registration for these institutions. A withholding of registration would probably be followed by a winding-down process involving a reduction in the number of residents or a ban on accepting new residents. This would have a knock-on effect within the health services generally. A shortage of nursing home beds would increase the number of delayed discharges from acute hospitals and have implications for accident and emergency services.
In recent months, the Government tackled the growing backlog of applicants for the Fair Deal nursing home package. A top-up fund of €44 million allowed waiting times to be cut from 15 to four weeks and the numbers seeking admittance from 2000 to 557. Additional tax relief for families who look after an elderly relative in their homes by employing a nurse or carer also helped. But home adaptation grants for elderly people who wished to remain independent remained out of reach of most applicants.
With a general election on the horizon, the Government is likely to prevaricate and, like its predecessors, put a stay on closures. Nursing home residents have been treated appallingly by officialdom in recent decades and deserve better. Citizens in their declining years should not be seen as commodities, to be allocated services on the basis of cost per head to the State. Quality care and comfort for the elderly should not become an optional extra. There are choices to be made. Instead of cutting taxes, how about upgrading public nursing homes? Jobs would be created.