Private nursing homes try to help hospitals

IN your report headlined ‘Nursing homes plan to aid city’s hospital bed shortages’ (Irish Examiner, February 10), it was stated that many elderly people who require long-term care have difficulty finding suitable nursing homes.

As the owner of a private nursing home I had a number of bed spaces available last year and I know of other nursing homes in a similar situation.

HSE officials, who visit each nursing home at least twice a year, could give a detailed breakdown of all bed vacancies in private nursing homes last year.

We work closely with the discharge co-ordinators of all the major hospitals in a bid to facilitate them by taking patients who would benefit from convalescence.

In the same report, Cllr Ciarán Lynch said “dozens of people are being kept in hospital beds because of the shortage in nursing home beds”.

Cllr Lynch has told me he was speaking about public beds, and not beds in privately owned nursing homes. He was happy to accept he had made no such distinction in his statement.

I welcome the new facilities for senior citizens in four Cork regions.

However, much of the State-provided accommodation is in need of renovation and new facilities are essential if the public provision of care is to keep pace with private healthcare. But at what cost to the taxpayer will these facilities be provided?

The antipathy towards private nursing homes displayed by politicians and journalists is no excuse for the inaccurate statements frequently being made in the print media.

It is generally accepted that 95% of people over 65 are well and happy in their own homes. For those who require additional support we try to provide the accommodation and healthcare in our nursing home.

We very much regret the public perception that a nursing home is a ‘last resort’, as often described by politicians.

Joseph Peters

Powder Mills

Nursing Home

Ballincollig

Co Cork.