Vol. 480 No. 6
252 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will State-fund State-run nursing homes but will not provide adequate subvention funding to patients wishing to live in private nursing homes in view of the fact that the cost of providing care is the same in both. [14358/97]
253 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason adult children of patients in private nursing homes are means-tested in view of the fact that families of patients in State-run nursing homes are not. [14359/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 252 and 253 together.
A basic tenet of Government policy is that older people should be maintained in dignity and independence in their own homes for as long as possible. The health boards' primary obligation is to support individuals and families in achieving this very desirable objective and to ensure that when this is no longer possible, older people have access to the best possible medical and long-term care.
The cost of maintaining a patient in a private nursing home is not generally comparable to that of a health board long-stay home for older people. Health board homes provide ancillary services such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy etc. as standard with a wider range of staff employed. Such services are not generally provided in the private nursing home sector.
The provision of care in health board long stay homes for older people is based on social and medical need. In general, patients admitted to long stay homes for older people tend to be medical card holders who are very dependent.
The subvention scheme provided for under the Nursing Homes Act is intended to assist persons in need of nursing home care in meeting the costs of such care but is not intended to meet the full costs involved.
254 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason bandages, dressing and incontinence wear must be paid for in a nursing home when there is no charge for them in the community. [14361/97]
A person in receipt of a nursing home subvention is entitled to items which are covered by the subvention, including incontinence wear, aids and appliances. Article 16.1 of the Nursing Homes (Subvention) Regulations, 1993 provides that a registered proprietor of a nursing home shall not seek any additional payment from a subvented patient for any service which is considered to be essential to the maintenance of a person in a nursing home and common practice in nursing homes. Among the services which are considered to be essential to the maintenance of a person in a nursing home and common practice in most nursing homes are incontinence wear and bedding, laundry services and aids and appliances necessary to assist a dependent person with the activities of daily living.
I understand that in February 1995 the then Minister for Health was informed of cases where patients in receipt of subvention were being charged for incontinence wear. My Department subsequently wrote to the health boards asking them to draw the attention of each proprietor of a registered nursing home in their board's area to the requirements of the Nursing Home Regulations and to advise them that they may not seek additional payments from subvented patients for services such as incontinence wear and aids and appliances.
The supply of bandages and dressings to patients in receipt of subvention is being investigated and I will communicate with the Deputy when the position is clarified. In the interim, if the Deputy is aware of a particular problem in this area, perhaps he would forward details to the chief executive officer of the relevant health board who will investigate the matter.
