Vol. 475 No. 7
87 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Health the health boards, if any, which place elderly people in non-institutional care in boarding accommodation or with other families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5950/97]
Limerick East): As the Deputy will be aware, under the boarding-out scheme, frail or dependent elderely people who cannot live in their own homes or find accommodation with relatives may be boarded out by the health board in family homes. Boarding-out differs from welfare, nursing or long-term care provision in that the accommodation is provided for a client of a health board by a private home owner who has entered into an agreement with the health board to provide accommodation and allied services. A full assessment is carried out on each resident and careful assessment is carried out on each carer by the geriatric assessment committee. The maximum number of persons to be boarded out in a dwelling is six. The health board pays a grant equivalent to half the current rate of the non-contributory old age pension per resident to the carer. In addition, it is recommended that the person being boarded out pays the carer half the amount of their old age pension per week. The boarding-out regulations came into effect on 1 September 1993.
Five health boards are currently operating the scheme. The relevant health boards and the numbers of people being accommodated are as follows.
|
Health Board |
Number of people |
Cost |
|
£ |
||
|
MHB |
40 |
79,500 |
|
MWHB |
5 |
7,644 |
|
NEHB |
25 |
55,000 |
|
NWHB |
43 |
67,000 |
|
WHB |
59 |
76,931 |
|
Total |
172 |
286,075 |
