THE HEALTH SERVICE Executive is to remove St Clair’s Nursing Home in Co Westmeath from its list of “approved nursing homes”, meaning current residents whose care is funded under the ‘Fair Deal’ scheme will no longer receive that support.
Nursing home owners are required to meet a set of criteria outlined in the Nursing Home Support Scheme in order to attain ‘approved’ status. According to the HSE, St Clair’s is “no longer compliant” with the those criteria, meaning financial support will no longer be provided. The HSE is stressing that this is “not related to the standard of care at the nursing home”. According to a statement:
The practical implication of this is that the HSE will no longer be able to financially support those patients in the nursing home who have previously been in receipt of financial support towards their cost of care at St. Clair’s Nursing Home.
St Clairs – located in Ballinderry, Mullingar – currently has the capacity to care for 43 occupants through a combination of short and long stay beds. According to statement from the home, it ceased participating in the Fair Deal Scheme as of Friday 9 August. It will continue to operate as a nursing home for privately-paying residents.
According to the HSE, the residents and their families have been informed of the situation and are being given the following options:
a) continue at the nursing home without financial support from the HSE or,b) For the patient to obtain care services from alternative provider who is listed as an approved nursing home.
Two liaison staff have been appointed by the HSE to help residents’ families find care elsewhere: “These staff will work with the families to help them identify the best options for continuation of their long term care”. The HSE statement concludes:
The HSE regrets that this course of action is necessary, particularly in regard to the inconvenience for the patients and their families, but the HSE is obliged to administer the scheme in accordance with the Nursing Home Support Scheme 2009.
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