Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

No, because again we ran out of time the last time representatives of the HSE were before us. The answer states that a person's eligibility for further schemes, such as the medical card scheme or the drugs payment scheme, is unaffected by participation in the nursing home support schemes. We know people are being charged. We want to know if the HSE is going to continue to allow this? If it wanted to find out the extent of the practice, all it has to do is invite public submissions. Every other family will tell it that a parent or grandparent is being charged for simple things like wound dressing, creams, incontinence wear and so on which are covered by the medical card and ordinarily covered where a person is living in the community. In my opinion, the HSE is deliberately turning a blind eye to this practice.

As we touched upon with the Comptroller and Auditor General, the way in which the contracts are framed is the same regardless of whether one is private or public. However, on medical card items to which residents would normally be entitled, some private nursing homes are charging for items which, if the person was living at home with a family member, would be provided under the medical card scheme. I want the committee to write back to the HSE to ask how it will ensure that this double charging - this is exactly what it is - stops, and what plans it has to prevent it happening. If the HSE is interested in determining the extent of this practice, it could invite people to make submissions and to back it up with proof, for example, invoices charged to their family members, when their family members have a medical card.