A long-awaited pricing review looking at the fee structure within the nursing home sector is finally set to be published.

Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) undertook the survey on foot of a “high number” of calls from members and the general public regarding delays in accessing both Fair Deal and transitional care funding support.

The body representing nursing homes is warning policymakers that changes are required to meet the needs of the country’s aging population, and has increased its lobbying of TDs for measures it wants to be implemented.

A report on nursing home charges published today says older people and their families are being stopped from accessing nursing homes under the Fair Deal scheme because of additional charges.

There are over 700 beds available if the HSE wants to discharge elderly patients from acute hospitals into nursing home beds.

Nursing Homes Ireland has called on the Public Accounts Committee to re-examine State spending on HSE nursing homes after figures published last week showed the HSE is paying some of its nursing homes up to seven times what it pays private and voluntary homes.

The State has been accused by Nursing Home Ireland (NHI) of abusing its dominant position in the nursing home sector.

With a backlog of more than 2,300 nurses awaiting registration, nursing home operators have called on the health minister to put the crisis top of the agenda at today’s meeting of the Emergency Department (ED) Taskforce.

Private nursing homes in Cork and Kerry recorded the highest occupancy rate in the country last year, new figures show.

A population of 30,000 living with dementia in the community has access to just 66 respite beds in nursing homes specifically designed to cater for the illness, a study has found.

The nursing shortage crippling healthcare delivery in hospitals will extend to nursing homes unless the Government urgently engages in workforce planning, Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) has warned.

Older people have died while waiting for financial support under the Nursing Home Support Scheme, a study claims.

Nursing home inspectors received 373 reports of alleged, suspected or confirmed abuse of older people last year.

The health service is “seriously unprepared” to cater for Ireland’s ageing population and faces a “ticking timebomb” unless it drastically improves nursing home facility numbers.

Private nursing home operators have accused health chiefs of secrecy over their plans for coping with the growing demands for residential care for older people.

ELDERLY people will be forced to pay weekly fees averaging almost €900 for nursing home care while waiting for entry approval to the state’s nursing home support scheme (NHSS) following a change in the way it operates.

MOST private and voluntary nursing homes say they have one or more vacant posts for nurses.

MORE than 2,500 jobs in Ireland’s booming technology sector remain unfilled at a time when close to 450,00 people are on the Live Register.

FAIR DEAL, the government scheme designed to make nursing home care “accessible, affordable and anxiety-free” is in danger of running out of funding halfway through the year.

OWNERS of private nursing homes have warned that some facilities may close due to the high cost of meeting new quality standards imposed by the Health Information and Quality Authority.

ON behalf of Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI), the representative body for the private and voluntary nursing home sector, I wish to correct a number of factual errors in your article headlined ‘Why are we abandoning the elderly’ (August 25).

A PLEA to exempt nursing home residents from the controversial 50 cent prescription charge has been rejected by Health Minister Mary Harney.

THE head of the organisation which represents most of the country’s private and voluntary nursing homes has accused the state of “bargain-hunting” from his members.

ON behalf of Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) members, I would like to echo the concerns expressed by the Board of Cobh Community Hospital in your report headlined ‘Friends of Cobh hospital plead to keep it open’ (July 16).

NURSING home owners have been warned against passing on inspection charges to residents.

THE health service will be unable to cope with demand by 2021 unless changes are made to the way in which healthcare is delivered, according to a report.

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney has been accused of treating people like cattle after an acutely ill 85-year-old woman was shuttled between Dublin hospitals in a two-hour search for a bed.

THE long-awaited Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill raises as many concerns as it addresses, Labour’s Jan O’Sullivan says.

PLANNED quality standards for nursing homes will inevitably increase the cost of care.

A SINGLE representative body for the private and voluntary nursing home sector comes into being on New Year’s Day.