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Nursing Home Charges

Date released: 18.08.2008

The Ombudsman, Ms. Emily O' Reilly, today (18 August 2008) welcomed a decision by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to reduce the nursing home charge payable by the daughter of an elderly lady from €100 a week to €76.

Commenting on the publication of a summary case report into a complaint lodged with her, the Ombudsman said

"I want to put a spotlight on cases like this where waivers are granted by the HSE on grounds of financial hardship. I also want the general public and specialists working in the nursing home sector to be aware of this waiver in case they might know of people in similar circumstances who might also benefit. A weekly reduction of €24 in nursing home charges can make a genuine difference for someone on a low income and ease the burden of paying for nursing care".

The specific details of the case are as follows:

The Ombudsman was approached by a woman who had always provided care for her elderly mother in the family home. When this was no longer possible, her mother entered public nursing home care. A maximum weekly charge of €120, based on an assessment of her mother's financial circumstances, had been levied on her mother in accordance with the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations, 2005, in respect of her nursing home care. The woman complained that, as a consequence of this assessment, she was finding it difficult to manage financially, as her mother's pension had previously formed part of the household income.

The woman had already made an appeal to the HSE, and had provided copies of expenses incurred by both herself and her mother as proof of her financial difficulties. The HSE had acknowledged the possible hardship, and reduced the weekly nursing home charge to €100 per week. However, the woman had taken out substantial loans with the Credit Union, prior to her mother's admission to nursing home care, to adapt the family home for her mother's benefit. These adaptations had involved the installation of a stairlift and bathroom conversion. The woman explained that all the loans she had taken out, while in her name, were done on the understanding that her mother's income would help with the repayment costs. However the HSE Appeals Office stated that, since it was her name and not that of her mother's on the Credit Union account, this loan could not be considered for the purposes of obtaining a further waiver of nursing home charges.

The Ombudsman felt that this was unfair given that the woman had done her best to provide care at home for her mother, and had taken out the home improvement loan for the purposes of maintaining her mother at home. She requested the HSE to review this case, having submitted the documentation regarding the loan and invoices showing the work which had been done. The HSE responded positively to her request, and agreed to further reduce the weekly charge to €76 per week, which was backdated to February, 2008, when the charges became applicable.

Patsy Fitzsimons - Investigator, at 01 639 5637 Fax: 01 639 5674

e-mail: patsy_fitzsimons@ombudsman.gov.ie

Matt Merrigan - Acting Senior Investigator, at 01-639 5639

e-mail: matthew_merrigan@ombudsman.gov.ie

For media inquiries contact:

Dave Glynn - Head of Communications Tel: 01 639 5714 email: david_glynn@ombudsman.gov.ie

The Ombudsman independently examines complaints about Government Departments and certain Public Bodies to help raise public service standards. Individuals, enterprises or organisations who feel they have been unfairly treated can lodge complaints to the Ombudsman. The service is free and impartial. The Ombudsman's aim is to ensure that people are treated with dignity, respect and sensitivity, in their dealings with the Public Service. We make every effort to deal with complaints in a proper, fair and understanding way.

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