Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 June 2017
81. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Health the position in relation to the provision of nursing home services in view of the fact that the private public ratio has reached critical level of approximately 80 to 20; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27904/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraResidential care in Ireland is provided through a mix of public, voluntary and private provision. It is worth highlighting that the net budget for long-term residential care in 2017 is €940m and the Nursing Homes Support Scheme will support 23,603 clients by the end of the year. Public Nursing Units are an essential part of our national nursing home infrastructure. They provide 5,000 long stay residential care beds. Public nursing home provision will continue to be an important part of the mix into the future, including for geographic reasons. There are also about 2,000 short stay community public beds nationally providing a combination of ‘step up/step down’ care, intermediate care, rehabilitation and respite care. To allow flexibility, these are interchangeable in their use depending on demand.
Many public units are housed in buildings that are less than ideal in the modern context, but notwithstanding this, the care delivered to residents is generally of a very high standard. It is important therefore that we maintain and upgrade our existing stock and this is the aim of the 5 year Capital programme for Community Nursing Units which was announced last year. This provides the framework to allow for an enhanced programme to replace, upgrade and refurbish these care facilities, consolidating our existing public stock and providing approximately 250 additional beds.
