I understand Deputy Aylward wants to raise a matter.
Business of Joint Committee.
At our last meeting we spoke in private session about the proposed closure by the HSE of Bethany House in Carlow. The locals are totally opposed to the closure of the house, which has been in situ for many years. I visited the house to meet the residents and every single one of them said they were happy with the treatment they were receiving and with the facilities at the house. They maintain that a small amount of money would upgrade the house to a perfect standard, by way of a few showers and baths which would cost between €100,000 and €200,000. I ask the committee to raise the issue with the Minister with a view to securing a change of mind on the part of the HSE. Only two residents have been moved so far and the others are refusing to move, which has given rise to stalemate.
I also wish to raise the issue of St. Brigid's ward in St. Patrick's Hospital in Waterford. The Mayor of Waterford arranged a meeting of all local politicians and HSE officials from Cork. Some 19 beds are available and there is a promise of a 50-bed unit on site by 2010. The local committee has asked for a moratorium on the closure of the ward for the intervening period.
I fully support Deputy Aylward. I met the group to which he refers. However, there is a wider issue in that wards and facilities in homes for older people are being closed in other parts of the country. The HIQA standards, published yesterday, are given as an explanation for the closures. However, those standards, as well as the fair deal legislation and the present cutbacks, make such homes an easy target. A small amount of refurbishment would address the issue, particularly in the case of Bethany House, which is not an old building. The whole policy needs to be looked at. Elderly people feel that these places are their homes and they are near relatives so it is disturbing for them to have to move to somewhere else. I urge the committee to look at the whole policy, as well as the specific examples, because there will be more cases around the country.
The HIQA standards refer to nursing homes as either public or private but geriatric hospitals are not mentioned at all. St. Patrick's Hospital in Waterford is not a nursing home, though it has been referred to as such in recent times. It provides care to high-dependency patients for which nursing homes do not have the staff. The nursing staff are very highly skilled in rehabilitation, venepuncture, cannulation, gastroscopy tube insertion, male catheterisation, nurse-prescribing and CPR. As these services are not available in most nursing homes, vulnerable elderly people who require them must go back to the acute services. Downgrading a hospital to a nursing home and applying HIQA standards does not save costs. I fully support what other members have said in respect of Bethany Home.
I support Deputy Aylward. I was at the meeting too. They told us the age of the building, that it was all on one level and that only €120,000 was needed. They have contacted me since and Deputy Aylward is right in saying only two patients have been moved. If we could reverse that decision, it would make 12 or 14 patients very happy. This is a small community in the centre of Carlow. Moving the patients out and selling the building would raise a significant sum of money but that is not the point. The people concerned have been there for many years. I will provide my support if the issue is raised when the Minister meets the committee.
I will ask the clerk to write to the Minister on behalf of the committee strongly expressing the concerns members have outlined.
On behalf of the committee, I extend condolences to Deputy Neville on the untimely death of his wife, Goretti. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam naofa.
I appreciate that.