Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I convey apologies on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, who is unable to take this Adjournment matter. I thank Senator John Whelan for raising the issue. Government policy is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Where this is not feasible, the health service supports access to appropriate quality long-term residential care.

Access to appropriate quality long-term residential care is underpinned by both the system of registration and inspection of nursing homes and the financial support available under the nursing homes support scheme. Essentially, our aim is to ensure that people are being cared for at the point of lowest complexity. People should only be entering long-term nursing home care when they have passed the point of being able to be cared for at home. This means that only the most highly dependent people should be in long-term nursing home care. One of our key priorities is the progression of a single assessment tool for older people. This standardised framework will ensure there is a robust, equitable standardised care needs assessment framework nationally. It will also allow resources to be targeted towards those with the greatest needs and enable supports and services to be designed in the most appropriate way possible.

The Department is working closely with the Health Service Executive to develop an overall plan regarding future public provision of long-stay residential care services. The plan will reflect both national and regional requirements and will have regard to the current severe financial constraints, restrictions on public sector staffing and recruitment, and the ongoing need to meet service and safety standards, all of which pose challenges for community nursing units across the country. The review of the nursing homes support scheme will also influence the future direction of residential care services. This review will consider the long-term sustainability of the scheme, as well as examining community-based services and how further development of those services might viably allow more older people to stay at home for longer. Work on the review is ongoing and is expected to be completed in early 2014. A longer-term plan for public residential facilities will follow on from that.

There are six public nursing units in counties Laois and Offaly providing 285 residential beds, of which 249 are long-term residential care beds and the remaining 36 are short-term beds. All six units were registered with the Health Information and Quality Authority in 2012 for a period of three years. In recent times, the future of St. Brigid's Hospital, Shaen, and Abbeyleix District Hospital have been under consideration by the HSE. Following a public consultation process carried out in 2012, all relevant information and submissions were presented to the designated officer on 16 August 2012. He, in turn, made a submission to the Department in December 2012, following consideration of which the Department sought clarification on a number of points. The HSE's response to that request for clarification is still awaited. The Department will finalise a submission for the Minister's consideration once the HSE has resolved any outstanding issues. This process is expected to conclude shortly. These decisions are being made in the context of the HSE's service plan for 2014, which will be published in draft form in the coming weeks for implementation in January.