Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 April 2023
178. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health his plans to provide additional capacity in public nursing homes; the number of additional public nursing home beds that have been provided in each of the past five years; if there are plans to develop new public nursing homes; if so, the location of these; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19877/23]
View answerI would like to thank Deputy Shortall for her questions on capacity in public nursing homes.
I have been informed by the HSE that they will require additional time to gather and relay the information with regards to the Deputy's queries.
I have asked the HSE to collate the details sought by Deputy Shortall and I will forward a comprehensive reply addressing all queries raised to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51.
While it is the Government’s overarching policy to provide a greater level and volume of care in the community and to support older people to live at home for longer, in line with the Sláintecare vision for receiving the right care, in the right place, and at the right time, it is recognised that nursing home care will continue to be an important part of the continuum of care into the future. It is therefore important that all aspects of the nursing home sector are scrutinised over the coming years to ensure that service delivery and configuration meet the needs of service users in a sustainable and safe manner. it is also critical that public investment in this infrastructure is maintained at a level that enables the appropriate standards to be met and that public residential care capacity is increased in the coming years.
All publicly and privately managed residential care facilities for older persons must comply with S.I.293/2016 regulations, as required by legislation, and overseen by the regulator (HIQA). This requirement has had a significant impact on publicly managed facilities due to the age of many of these buildings, resulting in a number of bed closures.
To address this issue and to provide for the replacement of closed beds, in 2016 Government announced a comprehensive Programme of investment in public residential care (Community Nursing Units/Community Hospitals) with the intention of ensuring that all public residential care units would comply with regulations and standards. The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the timeline for completion of this programme. However, the programme is now well established and progressing to ensure that all of our community nursing units meet the required standards and public health requirements.
As of December 2022, 43 projects have been completed, and throughout the country, there are projects underway to be completed in 2023, in addition to a number of additional projects in various stages of planning with completion dates in 2024 and 2025. While a number of projects to be completed will be newly constructed buildings, they form a part of the ongoing CNU programme to support the replacement of beds closed due to S.I.293/2016. The CNU programme will greatly assist in the refurbishment of old units/new builds and will ensure S.I.293/2016 compliance.
The public private partnership (PPP) aspect of the CNU programme also continues to progress. In Q4 of 2022, I announced the awarding of the contract to deliver seven Community Nursing Units through Public Private Partnership. The CNU PPP Project will deliver 530 beds in total, comprising both short and long stay beds for older persons at seven CNU facilities across the country - Ardee (50 beds), Athlone (50 beds), Clonmel (50 beds), Killarney (130 beds), Middleton (50 beds), St Finbarr’s, Cork (105 beds) and Thomastown (95 beds). All facilities are expected to have construction completed by the end of 2024.
To ascertain future demand for services and guide the future residential framework model of care, work has been undertaken by the HSE in respect of demand modelling, utilising key findings from previous demand models and data captured as part of an audit of CNU’s completed in 2022. Further work to update current modelling following outputs from Census 2022 and further demographic trends will support planning for new public nursing homes. In this context, in 2023, the HSE will be finalising the future operational model for Community Based Public Residential Services. This model will include a blueprint for future service delivery across the full health service and will have the older person and their needs at its centre.
