Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE HEALTH SERVICE Executive is to remove St Clair’s Nursing Home in Co Westmeath from its list of “approved nursing homes”, meaning current residents whose care is funded under the ‘Fair Deal’ scheme will no longer receive that support.
Nursing home owners are required to meet a set of criteria outlined in the Nursing Home Support Scheme in order to attain ‘approved’ status. According to the HSE, St Clair’s is “no longer compliant” with the those criteria, meaning financial support will no longer be provided. The HSE is stressing that this is “not related to the standard of care at the nursing home”. According to a statement:
The practical implication of this is that the HSE will no longer be able to financially support those patients in the nursing home who have previously been in receipt of financial support towards their cost of care at St. Clair’s Nursing Home.
St Clairs – located in Ballinderry, Mullingar – currently has the capacity to care for 43 occupants through a combination of short and long stay beds. According to statement from the home, it ceased participating in the Fair Deal Scheme as of Friday 9 August. It will continue to operate as a nursing home for privately-paying residents.
According to the HSE, the residents and their families have been informed of the situation and are being given the following options:
a) continue at the nursing home without financial support from the HSE or,b) For the patient to obtain care services from alternative provider who is listed as an approved nursing home.
Two liaison staff have been appointed by the HSE to help residents’ families find care elsewhere: “These staff will work with the families to help them identify the best options for continuation of their long term care”. The HSE statement concludes:
The HSE regrets that this course of action is necessary, particularly in regard to the inconvenience for the patients and their families, but the HSE is obliged to administer the scheme in accordance with the Nursing Home Support Scheme 2009.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I feel sorry for the elderly residents who liked living there. Now they have to move. Is that a fair deal for elderly people. The HSE should be putting people first. It currently is the coldest organisation ever put together.
Cold maybe??, but if a nursing home doesn’t met their obligations, the HSE has a duty not to fund them, I see this as a positive , in that the HSE appears to be doing its job
I feel sorry for the residents. Moving home is a big ordeal at the best of times, but if you are residing in a nursing home then chances are you are not in full health. Those with dementia and Alzheimer’s especially will find the move very unsettling and that is the part that really makes my heart sink. Trying to get used to new accommodation when your short term memory is pretty much non existent is a very frightening experience and it can take months for them to settle in, the stress alone can worsen the symptoms.
My heart goes out to all those who must now make a move, here’s hoping it can be done with ease and they all settle well in their new homes.
The care seems to be up to the standard required. I wonder what this is really about. It must be very worrying for the residents and their families.
Mary , if it’s not s care issue, then why didn’t they comply, looks like they played poker without the cards,
This nursing home is not tax compliant is one reason and an issue around price being charged according to R.T.E
That’s a bit crass Richie…seems to me nobody gives a shit about elderly people in this country, we’re all going to be elderly someday!
This article is a poor piece of journalism surely the most important piece if information in this story is the reason(s) that the funding has been withdrawn and this is not given in the story above.
the most interesting term used is “privately-paying residents” or people who can afford health insurance. looking at the Nursing Home Inspection Reports it has only been open since 2010. http://www.hiqa.ie/social-care/find-a-centre/nursing-homes/st-clairs-nursing-home. A couple of problems mostly lack of staff, unfinished construction work and of course record keeping. It has an private hospital attached to the home with state of the art equipment. http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/news/roundup/articles/2011/08/31/4006415-over-35m-invested-in-st-francis-health-village. So why are elderly residents who rely on the HSE to pay part of their costs being ordered to move. Where are they going to find a nursing home on par with the one the call home at present? Are “privately-paying residents” queueing up to take these beds because that will increase profits for the company running this Health village?
This is just a story about circumstances that life sometimes throw up……we should just move on and mark the situation with sadness for the residents.
have your say