Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of cases in which the patient is in hospital and has been deemed eligible for a home care package but has not been able to get it, and then the hospital charges the patient for the extended stay. The hospital charges the patient because the other end of the HSE service cannot provide the home care that is necessary. Will the Minister of State make it clear today that hospitals should not charge for extended stays where, through absolutely no fault of their own, patients cannot go home for health and safety reasons because home care is not in place? Will the Minister of State instruct the hospitals not to charge those patients? Where bills have been issued, can they credit those bills? It is not the patients' fault that they cannot get the care for which they are eligible and which is necessary for their health and safety.

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