Protest at Tánaiste’s Cork office over nursing home exiting Fair Deal scheme

CALLS for intervention relating to a Cork nursing home’s decision to leave the Fair Deal Scheme were further amplified as relatives took to the streets in protest.

Family and loved ones of residents of Beaumont Residential Care turned up at the Tánaiste Micheál Martin’s Cork office this week, calling for the Government to increase payments to Beaumont nursing homes.

Some 56 residents of the CareChoice facility are currently residing there under the Fair Deal Scheme.

However, the centre said it has no choice but to pull out of the scheme if payments continue at their current level.

Anne Rodgers, who is the daughter of one resident, said they want to Beaumont at a time when they are coming under extreme pressure.

The nursing home said it has been “forced by the actions and inactions of the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF)” to leave the scheme under which the HSE funds a percentage of a resident’s nursing home fees.

Anne said that families are now seriously concerned about the fate of their family in the nursing home.

“We don’t know what will happen or where our relatives will end up,” she said.

“Nobody is negotiating with CareChoice. This is why we are protesting. We want to CareChoice, and [we] understand why they did what they did.”

She said that more dignity needs to be afforded to older people.

Speaking about her own mother Bríd, who suffers from vascular dementia, and is a resident of the nursing home, she said: “My mum is immobile and non-verbal. To move her would be really detrimental to her wellbeing.

“We have already said that if she was to get fiercely ill she can’t be transferred to a hospital because of the trauma she would endure.

“I can’t really comprehend it, to be honest. We are doing this to give a voice to residents. This is their home, and the residents are each other’s friends and family.

“The carers have invested interest in the residents. They know them so well. Although this is end-of-life care for my mother, there is still no timeline on how long she will be there. She is nonverbal, immobile, and needs an awful lot of care.”

She emphasised the importance of looking out for society’s more vulnerable .

“We are talking about very vulnerable, very elderly people,” she said. “They deserve dignity. That’s all I can give my mum now.

“What we are asking for is a fair deal. We are only asking for the same amount that residents in public nursing homes get. There needs to be consistency across the entire nursing home sector.”

'SADDENED'

The nursing home released a statement to The Echo in relation to the Fair Deal Scheme.

“Beaumont Residential Care is very saddened to announce that the home has now left the Fair Deal Scheme as a result of the actions and inactions of the NTPF,” CareChoice Group CEO Stuart Murphy stated.

“This is a very difficult and sad day for the Fair Deal residents who reside in the home and also for their families. 

Over the last seven months we have tried to persuade the NTPF, HSE, and Department of Health to engage with us in relation to the chronic underfunding of caring for the Fair Deal residents in the CareChoice Group, including Beaumont Residential Care, but there has been no meaningful engagement.

“More recently we have tried our very best to persuade the HSE and the Department of Health to fund the cost of caring for Fair Deal residents in Beaumont Residential Care outside of the Fair Deal Scheme. Given the unwillingness of the Department of Health to find a solution to the funding of the Fair Deal residents in Beaumont Residential Care, we have advised the Fair Deal residents that they can continue to reside in the home for the next month without facing any additional charges. During this month, CareChoice will continue to advocate to try to ensure that the Fair Deal residents can remain in their home.

“This issue can only be solved by the HSE or through Government intervention at a senior level, as the NTPF are unwilling to solve it.”

A spokesperson for the nursing home said the Fair Deal rate that the six CareChoice Cork homes require in order to be sustainable is €1,270 per week, and the NTPF is “unwilling to agree to this sustainable rate”.

“The NTPF have stated that they face ‘budgetary constraints’ from the HSE, while at the same time the HSE is paying over €1,800 per week to care for a resident in its Cork homes,” the spokesperson said. 

“The HSE has increased the funding for the Cork rates for its homes by €183 per week, while at the same time the NTPF is insisting on an average increase of €16 per week for the CareChoice homes in Cork. These differences are completely unjustifiable.”

The NTPF said it does not comment on individual negotiations.

A spokesperson stated: “Under Section 41 of the Nursing Homes Scheme Act 2009, the NTPF is the designated body to agree maximum prices with private and voluntary nursing homes for the purpose of the Nursing Homes Scheme [aka the Fair Deal Scheme].

“As part of this function, the NTPF will enter into approved nursing home agreements with ed nursing homes to record the maximum price(s) that have been negotiated.

“The NTPF does not comment on its negotiations with individual nursing homes.”