Nursing home repayments law in place

LEGISLATION to set up a repayment system to refund illegally deducted nursing home charges is to be published next week - seven months after it was first promised.

However, the 70,000 people and families due refunds will have to wait until at least the summer to be paid because the Health (Repayment Scheme) Bill 2006 is not expected to be passed until May.

An estimated e1 billion will be paid, although the Government is continuing to resist legal attempts to seek €6bn in compensation.

Announcing the legislation yesterday, Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney said the new scheme would ensure repayments are made swiftly through an “uncomplicated application process”.

“It is my intention that priority in making repayments will be given to those applicants who are still alive,” she said.

It is understood that 20,000 of the 70,000 people from whom the Government illegally deducted nursing home charges are still alive. The repayments will include both the actual charge paid and an amount to take account of inflation.

All repayments to living persons will be exempt from income tax and repayments will not be taken into account in assessing means for health and social welfare benefits.

People will also be able to waive their right to a repayment and have the money assigned to fund one-off service improvements for older persons and persons with a disability.

Also yesterday, Ms Harney announced that the main points in the Health Information and Quality Authority Bill will be published in the coming weeks to pave the way for the establishment of a Social Services Inspectorate on a statutory footing.

The existing Irish Social Services Inspectorate (ISSI), which inspects children’s care homes, is not a statutory body.

The Bill, which will undergo a public consultation process before being finalised, is aimed at introducing for the first time a Social Services Inspector to inspect public and private nursing homes, a role currently fulfilled by the Health Services Executive (HSE).

“There will be clear and uniform standards for all nursing homes and inspections will be based on compliance with these standards,” said Ms Harney.

Meanwhile, the author of the Government’s Lourdes Hospital Inquiry - Judge Maureen Harding Clark - has been asked to advise on an appropriate scheme of redress arising from the findings of her report.

Judge Clark will also advise on the cost of such a scheme and on a mechanism for ensuring that as much as possible can be reclaimed from “wrongdoers and indemnifiers”.

Ms Harney said Judge Clark was the ideal person for the role. “The quality of Judge Clark’s work and report has been universally acknowledged and I believe that she can bring her unique insights and skills to bear on the issue of redress,” she said.

Ms Harney also said she has asked her department to develop proposals to address the need for stronger clinical governance arrangements throughout the health system - a process which will result in proposals being brought to Government shortly.