The nursing home sector is in a "crisis", with calls for more support from Government and reform of the Fair Deal scheme.
Last week, Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) launched a national billboard campaign, 'It’s Not Fair – Save Our Nursing Homes', to "raise awareness about the critical state of Ireland’s nursing home sector and to push for urgent reform of the Fair Deal scheme".
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With 77 nursing homes closing since 2018 and over 2,800 beds lost, NHI is urging the public to press the Government in the general election to prioritise nursing home care for the public good.
In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, NHI chief executive Tadhg Daly said: "A lot of people when they hear about nursing homes, they say 'it doesn't affect me', but the point we'd make is that it has an impact across society.
"It has an impact on families if they can't get care in their local community, an impact on people who wish to visit someone in a nursing home but have to travel a long distance, and it also has an impact on the acute hospital system.
"There are many people in these hospitals whose acute phase of care is complete, and they require care in the community, and despite the pronouncements of Sláintecare and trying to reorientate care to the community, this is having a direct impact, because people can't get access to nursing home beds."
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Mr Daly said Ireland should "celebrate" its ageing population, adding: "We should be, in my mind, celebrating that but also planning a range of services to meet that ageing demographic's needs across the continuum of care.
"Nursing home care, day services, meals on wheels, independent living and home care.
"Nursing homes are an essential part of a well functioning health service. We're trying to raise public awareness and public consciousness around the issues and to be ambitious for care of the older person."
On average, private and voluntary nursing home residents receive €650 less per bed, per week than those in HSE/public nursing homes - amounting to an annual shortfall of €33,800 per resident.
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Senator Timmy Dooley with NHI chief executive Tadhg Daly, NHI director Mary Burke and Evergreen's Rosetta Herr.
"This significant funding gap is unsustainable, and unless addressed, more nursing homes will be forced to close, further reducing access to care in local communities," Mr Daly said.
"With the timing of our billboard campaign, we were trying to be ahead of the election in some respects so that we wouldn't get subsumed by the myriad of issues.
"We had a successful launch at Leinster House last week, and we had a number of parliamentarians who have engaged with us on an ongoing basis.
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"They do understand, but what's frustrating from our point of view is the lack of action on it.
"Fair Deal is a good scheme for the older person and families, because it gives certainty in terms of how you contribute if you need nursing home care, but there have been three or four reviews at this stage.
"Every time there's a review, it's 'well we need to do a further review'. We're very keen that the pricing review is finalised and published.
"We would say let's do it and have that conversation now. There is a commission on care from government. That's positive, but our concern is that we need quick action on some of these issues.
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"We should be planning and saying 'what will the future look like, and what kind of services will we need?'"
Mr Daly pointed to the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) raising concerns about the rate of nursing home closures recently.
It's like lots of things in Irish public life, lots of reports, but no implementation.
"The regulator is echoing what we've been talking about for years. We're hoping policymakers will take note and engage constructively. We should also stay positive. It is challenging, but it's not beyond us to address it.
"Government themselves have undertaken these reviews. The Department of Health understands there is an issue... if there was no issue they would not have committed to reviews... but they haven't acted on them.
"It's like lots of things in Irish public life, lots of reports, but no implementation.
"Our concern is that if we don't act, there will be fairly significant consequences down the line. It's a certainty that the population over 65 is going to hit one million shortly. The population over 85 is also growing at a faster rate, so there is no surprise there."
Mr Daly added: "My concern is the longer we leave it, the more difficult it will be to deal with it, and number two, it will have an impact on older people, their families and the health service.
"I'm normally a positive person, but our concern in Nursing Homes Ireland is that in six or seven years' time we'll look back and say 'why didn't we do something sooner?'
"We're in crisis at the moment, but it would be of greater magnitude then.
"In the morning, if we decide we need a nursing home in Bandon, Ballymun or Bundoran, wherever, you don't just build it in the morning. You need planning, financing, securing the site, the commissioning and inspecting of it. You're talking a minimum of three and a half to four years."
Ireland'Our health service would fall asunder if we didn'...Read More
