Fix Fair Deal

Due to failures of Fair Deal pricing:

  • It’s not fair, private and voluntary nursing home residents receive, on average, €650 less per bed, per week, than those in HSE/Public nursing homes. This is an average of €33,800 per resident, per year.
  • It’s not fair homes have to close due to failures in Fair Deal pricing.
  • It’s not fair that residents are losing their homes.
  • It’s not fair that residents are denied the essential primary care services they need, simply because of where they live.
  • It’s not fair that communities are losing their local nursing home.
  • It’s not fair that families have to travel long distances to visit their loved ones.
  • It’s not fair that staff in private and voluntary nursing homes are not remunerated on par with public service colleagues.

Fair Deal pricing is not fair. Since 2018, 77 nursing homes have closed, leading to the loss of over 2,800+ beds in local communities throughout Ireland. We need to fix Fair Deal pricing.

We need to see long-term, sustainable action to ensure the future of nursing home care. We need a national conversation on the future of nursing home care. The time for action is now.

 

 

Footnotes:

  1. Review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, A Fair Deal (2015). View PDF
  2. Ombudsman Statement: Who Cares? Report and Nursing Home Charges (2010). View PDF
  3. Joint Committee on Health and Children Debate – Thursday, 16 Jan (2014). View Debate
  4. Review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, A Fair Deal (2015). View PDF
  5. An Irish National Survey of Dementia in Long-term Residential Care (2015). View PDF
  6. Potential Measures to Encourage Provision of Nursing Home & Community Nursing Unit Facilities – Final Report to Department of Health (2015). View PDF
  7. Value for Money Review of Nursing Home Care Costs (2018). View PDF
  8. COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel Report (2020). View PDF
  9. Special Report 110: Comptroller and Auditor General – Nursing Homes Support Scheme (2020). View PDF
  10. Towards a Continuum of Support and Care for Older People – Sage Advocacy Report (2020). View PDF
  11. A Value for Money Review of Nursing Home Care Costs (2021). View PDF
  12. The Department of Health’s Response to the Value for Money Review (2021). View PDF
  13. Review of Pricing System for Long Term Residential Care Facilities – Deloitte & Prospectus Review (2021). View PDF
  14. Review of Pricing System for Long Term Residential Care Facilities (2021). View PDF
  15. Minister Mary Butler, Nursing Homes Ireland Annual Conference Highlights (2024). View Page
  16. PwC – Challenges for Nursing Homes in the Provision of Older Persons Care (2023). View PDF

Additional Reading:

  • Submission to Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee, NHI (2020). View PDF
  • Long-term Residential Care in Ireland: Developments Since the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, ESRI (2020). View PDF

Please see below resources to download to support the It’s Not Fair campaign:

Download – A5 – It’s Not Fair – Postcard

 

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