ALONE Criticises Fair Deal Nursing Home Scheme Waiting Lists

Wednesday 29 October 2014 10.08

A charity that supports older people has condemned waiting times for people trying to access the Fair Deal nursing home scheme. The scheme provides financial support for people who need long-term nursing home careMore than 2,000 people are currently on the waiting list, which is up from 654 people in February.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, ALONE Chief Executive Sean Moynihan said this was the only part of the health service where there were no targets or goals to reduce the waiting list.

Mr Moynihan said the problem stems from the fact that the scheme is capped, so that when the funds allocated for it run out, people are placed on a waiting list.

He said there was an urgent need for a plan to be created to address the issue.

The Health Service Executive said that €627m had been spent up to August from the €938m allocated for the nursing home scheme in 2014.

It said: "Funding allocation is spread over the course of a full year and in Quarter 4 funding approval for additional places will come on stream.

"There is constant movement on the national placement list with new applicants being approved as places become available.

"As such, the HSE is projecting that the numbers on the national placement list will reduce to approximately 2,000 by year end with a wait time of approx 14/15 weeks."

Keywords: alone, fair deal, nursing home