Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2023
583. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Health the position regarding any discussions being held with representatives of the private nursing home sector regarding concerns related to the fair deal scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32193/23]
View answerBoth I and officials from the Department have had, and continue to have, engagement with Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI).
As a key stakeholder, it is important to maintain constructive dialogue with this representative body as we continue to discuss matters relevant to the operation and funding of nursing homes and ongoing matters relating to the operation of, and proposed changes to, the Nursing Homes Support Scheme. Most recently officials met with NHI to review the publication of the PWC report Challenges for Nursing Homes in the Provision of Older Persons Care which was commissioned by NHI.
The Department of Health has also met with The Alliance, a newly formed support network for smaller, family-run nursing homes, and will continue to engage with them.
In addition, the Department has been engaging with individual nursing homes on a continuous and consistent basis and nursing home groups in attempting to address some of the issues they are raising in relation to funding and increased inflationary costs.
I firmly believe that good communication must be at the heart of everything we do in the health service. I also believe that it is important that the HSE is made aware of all matters raised about its service, including all matters related to the operation and administration of the Nursing Home Support Scheme, as under the Health Act 2004, the day-to-day operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health services is a matter for the HSE. In this regard the Department of Health engages with the HSE in a consistent, timely manner on all issues in respect of administrative, operational and policy-related decisions to ensure that Fair Deal functions optimally, as intended.
Furthermore, the Department of Health continues to engage with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to examine ways in which funding can be used to provide support to nursing homes. In addition, the NTPF will shortly be seeking up-to-date financial & operational information from nursing homes to inform further analysis and considerations of measures to support the sector. The NTPF have informed the Department that they have engaged with NHI on this matter. The Department of Health and I have regular interaction with the NTPF. I recently met with the NTPF to discuss ways to support the sector, where necessary and appropriate, to complement the normal process of negotiating rate increases when contracts are renewed.
As a result of this meeting nursing homes which had a scheduled renegotiation of their Deed of Agreement this year with the NTPF have seen a significant uplift. In addition, other options to support nursing homes are also being explored at the moment, such as to help with the often costly nature of compliance for nursing homes under necessary HIQA regulations. The Department of Health published a review of the NTPF pricing system in June 2021 and continues to work on bringing forward the recommendations that emerged from this review. Officials from the Department of Health and the NTPF meet regularly to report on progress of the four recommendations and a steering group has been established to oversee delivery of those recommendations. There will be opportunities for NHI to engage formally with this steering group.It is important that lines of communication are maintained with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that nursing home care continues to be provided to older people that is accessible and affordable for everyone, and that people are cared for in the most appropriate settings whilst simultaneously maintaining comfort levels and standards of care.
