Nursing home patients forced to pay €1,000 per year for incontinence wear

NURSING home patients are being forced to pay over €1,000 each year for incontinence wear even though the Southern Health Board was told three years ago they should not be charged.

The SHB, which caters for Cork and Kerry, is the only health board in the country not funding personal hygiene products for medical card holders in private nursing homes, according to the Irish Nursing Homes Organisation (INHO).

It is estimated that an incontinent person spends €1,314 per year on hygiene pads, putting the bill for such products at €2 million annually.