Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 September 2011
39 Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health the action he will take to address the over-charging of nursing home residents when additional service charges are being set on top of the agreed fees and when, in some cases, these charges are for services supposed to be covered by the nursing home support scheme. [26380/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, on 1 July 2009 statutory responsibility was given to the Chief Inspector of Social Services, part of the Health Information and Quality Authority for inspecting and registering nursing homes. This responsibility is underpinned by a comprehensive quality framework comprising the Health Act 2007, the Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People) Regulations 2009, as amended, and the National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People in Ireland.
Article 28 of the Regulations is of particular relevance to the Deputy's question.This requires that the registered provider of a nursing home to agree a contract with the resident within one month of admission. The contract must include details of the services to be provided and the fees to be charged. The Chief Inspector has the power to refuse to register, attach conditions to a registration or cancel the registration of a designated centre in the event of non-compliance with the regulations or the standards.
If the Deputy is aware of any nursing home not complying with the Regulations I would encourage him to notify HIQA directly of these concerns.
