Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Older People Mary Butler says nursing homes will still struggle to cope with the additional pressure from the COVID-19 crisis, despite the €72m financial scheme announced earlier this month.
She has been engaging with a number of nursing homes, which say the costs incurred by them over the past number of weeks will not be covered by the funding.
“Private nursing homes were some of the first facilities to implement restrictions to limit the spread of the Coronavirus. Many took the difficult decision to close their doors to visitors in the first week of March when the gravity situation was only unfolding, in a bid to protect their residents and staff against the virus”, said Deputy Butler.
“However, its now emerged that despite taking this necessary action early on, nursing homes are only entitled to claim funding dating back to the 1st April. Many of these nursing homes had to pay for their own PPE and employ additional staff so that they could adhere to guidelines.
“Activities which would have previously carried out in a group setting had to be offered on an individual basis; additional physios and therapists have been taken on to ensure that services could be continued for residents. Substantial costs were accrued, which cannot be reimbursed under this scheme.
“Managers are also concerned that the funding is for Fair Deal residents only. While the majority of residents qualify for the Fair Deal scheme, most nursing homes have a small number of private residents. It makes no sense to me that during the COVID-19 pandemic, when all patients in our health service are being treated equally, that private residents in nursing homes are being discriminated against.
“There is no doubt that private nursing homes were ahead of the curve at the beginning of this public health crisis, and I believe they should be entitled to recoup some of these costs back. The current scheme, while welcome, does not go far enough, especially given the very serious situations some of these homes are facing at the moment. They want to provide the best possible healthcare for their residents but they need additional resources to help them do that.”
