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Annual Report of the Ombudsman 2004

Chapter 3 - Northern Area Health Board - Dispute Over Scope of Nursing Home Subvention

Northern Area Health Board

Dispute Over Scope of Nursing Home Subvention

I received a letter from a woman whose late mother, a medical card holder, had been a patient in a private nursing home from 1993 until 1998. The complaint was that, even though the woman’s late mother was in receipt of nursing home subvention from the Northern Area Health Board, the woman and other family members had to pay for incontinence wear for her during this period which caused them financial hardship.

The Nursing Home Regulations 1993 (Article 16.2- Services covered by subvention) refers to a “service which is considered to be essential to the maintenance of a person in a nursing home and common practice in most nursing homes shall include bed and board, nursing care appropriate to the level of dependency of the person, incontinence wear and bedding, laundry service and aids and appliances necessary to assist a dependent person with activities of daily living.” Under the legislation, therefore, incontinence wear should be supplied to all patients in receipt of subvention from the health board and resident in a private nursing home. In addition, I was aware that the Minister for Health and Children had issued a request to health boards in February 2001 that they ensure that medical card holders in private nursing homes retain their eligibility for incontinence wear under the GMS Scheme, and that all medical card holders in receipt of subvention be supplied with incontinence wear on the same basis as if they were living in the community.

I asked the Board to review this case in light of the Nursing Home Regulations, 1993 and the Minister’s request and the Board agreed to reimburse the woman a total of €2,628 in respect of incontinence wear costs.

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