Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
1838. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health the status of the Review of Pricing System for Long Term Residential Care Facilities, published in June 2021 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43254/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Review of the Pricing System for Long Term Residential Care Facilities was carried out under the oversight of a steering group with representation from various departments and agencies. Expert advice was sought from Deloitte and Prospectus and Philip Lee, and submissions were sought from stakeholders. Following conclusion of the review, the NTPF submitted its final report to the Minister of Health, with four recommendations.
Recommendations:
- Recommendation 1: formal assessment of using a formulaic approach in the pricing system as set out in Section 4 of the Report.
- Recommendation 2: formal assessment of amending the approach to the assessment of “Local Market Price” to reflect prices within other nursing homes within a certain distance of the nursing home rather than within the same county.
- Recommendation 3: NTPF to engage with nursing homes and their representatives in relation to enhancing the internal NTPF Review process.
- Recommendation 4: amending the process for allowing for high dependency residents when the necessary systems are in place.
A steering group has been established to oversee the delivery of the recommendations, this group has met on a regular basis since publication of the review.
The delivery of recommendations 1-3 primarily sit with the NTPF. As per the recommendations of the review, the NTPF is reporting periodically to the steering group on progress in implementing the recommendations. It is recognised, however, that recommendation 4 has dependencies going well beyond the scope of the pricing review. This recommendation is therefore being addressed within the broader context of the reform of older persons' services., with appropriate links established between the pricing review steering group (including shared membership) to ensure that appropriate links are made between this recommendation and the others.
The terms of reference for the group include a final report to be submitted to ministers, reporting on delivery of recommendations 1-4 set out above and making any further recommendations as appropriate.
