Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 January 2019
314. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Health the procedure in cases in which a person under the fair deal scheme and a medical card holder requires transport from a nursing home to their local general hospital for appointments and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2361/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS), commonly referred to as A Fair Deal, is a system of financial support for people who require long-term residential care. Participants contribute to the cost of their care according to their means while the State pays the balance of the cost.
The NHSS covers the cost of the standard components of long-term residential care which are:
- Nursing and personal care appropriate to the level of care needs of the person;
- Bed and board;
- Basic aids and appliances necessary to assist a person with the activities of daily living; and
- Laundry service.
A person's eligibility for other schemes, such as the medical card scheme or the drugs payment scheme, is unaffected by participation in the NHSS or residence in a nursing home. In determining the services covered by the NHSS it was considered very important that the care recipient and the taxpayer would be protected and would not end up paying for the same services twice. For this reason, medications and aids that are already prescribed for individuals under an existing scheme are not included in the services covered by the NHSS, as this would involve effectively paying twice for the same service.
It is important to state that residents of nursing homes should enjoy the same levels of support and access to services as when they lived in their own homes. It is of course acknowledged that the reason they require 24 hour levels of support is due to their level of dependency, which in turn will require inevitably access to clinical services including hospital and other outpatient appointments in the community. The HSE provides for a level of Intermediate Care Vehicles, which are used predominantly for non-emergency transport between acute hospitals for admission and discharge purposes. They would be reserved for those who would need specific support in transport and other than that normal transport arrangements apply. These arrangements (e.g. wheelchair taxi) are normally funded by the individual.
Although the NHSS covers core living expenses, residents can still incur some costs in a nursing home. In recognition of this, anyone in receipt of financial support under the NHSS retains at least 20% of their income. The minimum amount that is retained is the equivalent of 20% of the State Pension (Non-Contributory).
