Written answers
Tuesday, 15 December 2020
Department of Health
Nursing Home Accommodation
Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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603. To ask the Minister for Health when residential care will be provided for a person (details supplied). [43440/20]
Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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604. To ask the Minister for Health if additional on-standby payments made to nursing home staff who have agreed to be on call 24 hours a day in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak can be reimbursed to nursing home facilities (details supplied) through the temporary assistance payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43447/20]
Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme for nursing homes, also known as TAPS, provides financial assistance to private and voluntary nursing homes to support their preparedness in relation to COVID-19 and to manage outbreaks, if and when they present.
Where a nursing home applies for an assistance payment through the scheme, the nursing home may only claim for those additional allowable costs, as set out in the Scheme details. The nursing home must vouch that all amounts claimed are in relation to those allowable costs arising as a result of the impact of COVID-19. In some cases, where an outbreak has been experienced and a claim is made under the outbreak assistance component of the scheme, the claim requires independently certified verification. There is an overall monthly funding cap, which is the maximum amount that may be paid in respect of each month to a nursing home under the scheme.
The HSE administers the scheme and makes payments to nursing homes. The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) administers the application process and provides support and advice to the HSE. Regular reports of Scheme activity, including claims and payments, are produced and monitored by the HSE and submitted to the Department. External Auditors were appointed in April 2020 to perform audits of a sample of TAPS claims submitted each month by nursing homes to assess compliance with the scheme guidelines. The scheme is under continuous review and engagement with the sector is ongoing.
The Deputy will appreciate that, as Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, I cannot intervene in individual cases.
I suggest that the nursing home in question engages with the NTPF in order to ascertain why the claim was denied with a view to resolving the matter.
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