This article is from page 14 of the 2006-05-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
CONCERN was expressed yesterday at the level of state subvention payments towards the high cost of providing beds in the county’s nursing homes.
In a Dáil adjournment debate on the issue, Fine Gael deputy, Pat Breen said he had received numerous complaints from constituents stunned at the costs that were being charged.
“In Ennis, I have one instance where an individual is paying €1,500 a month to a nursing home. Despite the resident being on the top level of subvention – €400 of this is for a special bed – he must pay an enormous sum to make up the deficit.
“For a person on a modest salary, paying €1,100 a month for a relative in a nursing home is the equivalent to paying a sizeable mortgage.”
He said he had examined nursing home charges in County Clare and with the exception of public nursing homes, the amounts charged bore no relation to the subvention amounts paid.
“Six private nursing homes in County Clare charge between €560 and €657 a week for a private room.
“The cheapest rate I could find in the private sector was €540 a week for a twin room. In contrast the amounts payable by the HSE for subvention are €114, €152.40 and €190.50 a week, according to the level of dependency of the patient.
“Nursing home charges, therefore, amount to between three and four and a half times the subvention rate, without the luxury of a private room. If the modest old age pension of less than €200 a week is applied, there is still a considerable shortfall, which very often has to be met by hard-pressed relatives struggling with their own financial problems.”
He said that the Government’s continuing failure to tackle the accident and emergency crisis had led to some people opting to stay at home to die rather than face the drudgery of the health service.
“Furthermore, due to the costs of private nursing home care and the state’s failure to provide more realistic subvention levels, people are being forced to stay at home in more problematic conditions.
“Hardship cases cannot be taken on directly by the State because of the lack of sufficient numbers of public nursing home beds”.