Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am again raising the crisis in the private and voluntary nursing home sector, where 17 homes have closed this year. These homes tend to be independent, small and family run. While some of the chains are replacing some of the lost beds, that is not happening in rural or smaller areas where family-run homes are closing. More and more older people will not be able to remain reasonably close to family, friends, GPs, pharmacists and so on. That is just wrong. In a small, 35-bed private nursing home, the current fair deal funding model would pay, on average, €1 million less per year than it pays to the same size HSE home. I keep hearing that HSE homes deal with more complex cases but where is the evidence? The Department of Health did a study, although it was too small, that showed there was little difference in the levels of dependence between public and private homes. We need an urgent review of the fair deal funding model.

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