Joe Costello
Question:10 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Health the names of private nursing homes in Dublin; the number of patients accommodated in each; the cost per patient in each home; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Private Nursing Homes.
My Department has no function in relation to the information on individual private nursing homes sought by the Deputy. Under the Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990, it is the responsibility of health boards to establish a register of nursing homes in their respective regions. These registers, which are currently being established, will give the name of each registered nursing home and the number of patients who can be accommodated in the home. Information will not be provided on the cost per patient in each home as health boards have no function in relation to the cost of care in individual homes. These health board registers will not be completed until after 1 September 1994, as nursing homes have until that date to register with a health board.
Would the Minister accept that in Dublin the difference between the cost of a place in a private nursing home and the subvention available from his Department, even under the new revised scheme, is so wide that it imposes severe hardship on many families? Would he therefore consider that there is a need to modulate the subvention in some way to the prevailing costs in parts of the country which reflect the higher costs generally of doing business?
We have made a remarkable start this year. We are spending £4 million on the implementation of the nursing homes Act in 1993 and a further £5 million in 1994. That is new money in this area and is welcomed by the nursing homes associations and by patients who will benefit. There are three levels of subvention. They are very much higher than any that were available to those few categories of people who were entitled to a subvention in the past.
The disparity between costs in Dublin and those in the rest of the country must be taken into account, but generally speaking I would like there to be a uniform system if that is possible.