Over 1,100 awaiting places in nursing homes

More than 1,100 vuln-erable elderly people have been forced onto unofficial nursing home waiting lists in just two years, due to the HSE’s chronic funding problems.

Figures revealed in response to Health Minister James Reilly’s plan to officially introduce public waiting lists system this year show that, in reality, the policy is already in operation.

According to the HSE, since the Fair Deal nursing home scheme was created in Oct 2009 to help reduce the cost of care for pensioners, 22,957 older people have been placed in public facilities.