Fears over nursing home fees repayment

The repayment of illegal nursing home fees to residents in mental health services could result in significant dangers for patients and staff, it was warned today.

Des Kavanagh of the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association of Ireland (PNA) said that staff were extremely nervous of the refunding of thousands of euro to former patients without any preparations.

“Thousands of former patients now reside in community residences under the care and supervision of mental health and intellectual disability services,” the general secretary said at the PNA annual conference in Tralee, Co Kerry. “They were subject to illegal charges.”

The repayments of millions of euro have come out of a decision by the state to charge elderly people for nursing home care since the mid-1970s without a legal basis for the charges.

The PNA, which represents over 6,000 nurses countrywide, warned that the substantial sums will be returned to these people, some of whom have difficulty in managing their money.

Mr Kavanagh said: “Guidelines must be agreed and issued before these monies are paid out.”

The nurses called for the Health Department to ask the Mental Health Commission, alongside patient representative groups, to prepare guidelines to ensure the money is protected for the patient.

Mr Kavanagh said the annual report raised concerns that some of the people would be vulnerable to strong clients and long lost family members.

He said nurses were also worried that the repayment of illegal nursing home fees could mean a further drop in funds available to mental health and disability services.

“The imminent arrival to a hostel of €25,000 to €30,000 will create a unique dynamic which in itself will challenge nurses in counselling patients over its management,” he said.

The association also welcomed a decision from the Labour Court in relation to giving three weeks notice to the Health Service management in the event of a strike.

The court recommended that as the PNA was not subject to last year’s framework of dispute resolution it could not be called upon to give 21 days notice of a dispute.

The recommendation also stated: “The court is of the view that the exclusion of PNA from the negotiations is regrettable and is not conductive to harmonious industrial relations in the health services.”

The Labour Court called upon the PNA to continue negotiations between the Health Service Employers until a voluntary code was finalised.

Mr Kavanagh said the nurses welcomed the decision of the court that it was not subject to the current dispute resolution framework.

The PNA said it put it to the court last March that 21 days strike notice was an inappropriate burden on unions – it would offer seven days notice in local strikes, 14 days in national and 21 days if involved in a dispute including other unions.

Delegates at the annual conference were also informed that a working group would be set up over the coming weeks to prepare for the next benchmarking agreement for pay in the public sector.

Mr Kavanagh said: “Benchmarking failed nurses last time round, we were slapped on the wrist for refusing to accept our lot and for engaging in a series of disputes in the late 1990s.”

Mr Kavanagh said the increased offered under the last Benchmarking Agreement ranged from 8% to 15% but failed to give parity with the Paramedic Grades in the Health Services.

He said that if benchmarking does not deliver this time round nurses should “walk and keep on walking” until their reasonable demands are met.