Families urged to seek waivers for nursing home fees

FAMILIES of nursing home patients are being advised by the ombudsman they are entitled to seek a waiver on charges from the Health Service Executive if they are experiencing financial hardship.

Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly welcomed the decision of the HSE to reduce nursing home charges payable by the daughter of an elderly lady from €100 to €76 per week.

“A weekly reduction of €24 in nursing home charges can make a genuine difference for someone on a low income and ease the burden of paying for nursing care,” said Ms O’Reilly.

The case arose after the HSE refused to allow a loan taken out by the daughter to modify the family home in order to care for her mother to be considered for the purpose of a waiver of nursing home charges.

However, Ms O’Reilly said the elderly woman could no longer be looked after in the family home by her daughter, despite the fact that she had taken out substantial loans to adapt the building to care for her mother.

Based on an assessment of the patient’s financial circumstances, the HSE imposed a maximum weekly charge of €120 for nursing home care under the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations 2005.

However, the woman’s daughter complained that she was finding it difficult to manage financially because her mother’s pension had previously formed part of the household income.

Following an initial appeal to the HSE, the family had the weekly charge for nursing home care reduced from €120 to €100 as the HSE acknowledged possible hardship in the case.

However, the daughter lodged a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman after claiming she still felt under financial pressure as she had taken out substantial loans in her own name, although it was done on the basis that her mother’s pension would help with the repayments.

Ms O’Reilly said the HSE had responded positively to her request to re-examine the request for a further waiver.

The HSE also agreed to backdate the reduced charges to last February when the charges first came into effect.

A spokesperson for Ms O’Reilly said people could only refer matters concerning nursing home fees to the ombudsman after they had already taken their case to the HSE appeals office.