ESRI Analysis warns Government of immediate impetus to drive sustainability in older person and nursing home care
Wednesday July 28, 202128th July 2021: Speaking regarding publication by the ESRI of the Projections of Expenditure for Primary, Community and Long-Term Care in Ireland, 2019–2035, Based on the Hippocrates Model analysis report published Wednesday 28th July, NHI CEO Tadhg Daly states: “Yet another seismic warning emanates regarding the urgent requirement for Government to lead in planning to place care services for older people on a sustainable footing. Sizeable issues are already on our doorstep: staff shortages present within key disciplines and funding shortfalls are leading to the closure of smaller nursing homes. This report should provide compulsion for the Government to take the impetus and act with haste to plan and resource for the specialised health and social care needs for our growing older population. A few weeks ago Government stood over a review of Fair Deal that will exacerbate delay in introduction of a funding model commensurate with the reality of nursing home residents specialised care needs. A long-standing requirement for a workforce plan has been persistently overlooked by successive Governments and shortages now present in particular for healthcare assistants across our health services. The failure to grasp the necessity to plan now will exacerbate the crisis that is emerging. Yet another jolt is presented by the ESRI, and we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to such seismic warnings and fail to urgent policy actions to address such. Fair Deal requires an immediate overhaul necessary to ensure a sustainable high quality residential care sector.”
Tadhg Daly, NHI CEO is available for further comment. Media interviews will be facilitated by Michael McGlynn, NHI Communications & Research Executive who can be contacted at 087 9082970.
Note for Editor
Extract from the analysis Chapter 7: Findings: Long-term residential care expenditures: “Current funding through the NHSS does not recognise dependency levels, which have implications for care when, increasingly, residents are of higher dependency, especially those with significant disabilities under 65 years of age. Despite HIQA requiring LTRC homes to meet standards for the provision of care for residents living with dementia, the NHSS does not currently allocate additional funding for cognitive impairment, including dementia.”