Shortage of nursing homes to deal with surge in over-65s

GOVERNMENT expenditure is leaving Ireland drastically short of nursing home beds to cater for the explosion in over-65s expected within 20 years.

Labour party TD Seán Sherlock made the claim after submitting a parliamentary question to Health Minister Mary Harney asking about the number of long-term residents aged 65 and over in public and private nursing homes in the southern region.

In reply, Michael Fitzgerald of the Health Service Executive (HSE) said there were 450 registered private nursing homes, providing 20,000 residential care beds, of which 121 with 5,000 beds are located in HSE South.