Advocacy service expands remit to support complaints about private nursing homes

An advocacy service that helps people using healthcare to make formal complaints has been extended to the private nursing home sector for the first time.

The Patient Advocacy Service (PAS), which up to now has covered only hospitals and public nursing homes, is extending its services over the coming year on a phased basis to private nursing homes.

In its first two years of service, the service was contacted by 1,600 healthcare service users and provided support for these patients on over 4,000 healthcare issues.

The extension of its remit comes as the first national survey of nursing homes shows the vast majority of residents and their families say they experience good care there.

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Over 90 per cent of residents said they had a “good” or “very good” overall experience in their nursing home, while almost 10 per cent reported a poorer experience, according to the survey carried out by the Health Information and Quality Authority.

Residents were particularly positive about the living environment of their nursing home, and the staff and caregivers who cared for them, and less positive about the experience of moving into the home, and person-centred care.

A parallel survey of relatives and friends found 87 per cent reporting a “good” or “very good” overall experience with the nursing home. Thirteen per cent of this group said they had a fair-to-poor experience.

Areas highlighted included the need to support residents in terms of their emotional wellbeing and participation in activities, and safekeeping of belongings.

The survey found no significant differences in the overall experience of residents based on the nursing home size or provider type.

Respondents were also asked about the impact of Covid-19 on their experience of nursing homes. While positive about the care they received during the pandemic, they talked about missing visits from family and the psychological impact of restrictions. Relatives and friends frequently expressed appreciation for the efforts of staff and how they were supported in staying in touch with residents during this time. However, concerns about how the resident declined during periods of limited social interaction were also expressed.

Hiqa says the first National Nursing Home Experience Survey shows nursing home residents experience good care, but also highlights areas for improvement.

A “stratified sample” of 53 public and private nursing homes, representative of the entire population of nursing homes in Ireland, was selected to participate in the survey between March and May 2022, when Covid-19 was still prevalent.

Nursing Homes Ireland, whose members run private nursing homes in the State, and the HSE both said they would apply learnings from the survey to the way home were run.

“The survey results provide great insights into what matters to nursing home residents and the improvements we can make to nursing home care in Ireland,” said HSE interim chief executive Stephen Mulvany. “We will take the time to understand and to reflect critically on what residents and families have told us, so that we can continue to improve our services.”

“Supporting residents, families and staff in being aware of the role of independent advocacy for residents is a key takeaway that will be encompassed within upcoming learnings for all nursing homes, public, private and voluntary,” said Nursing Homes Ireland chief executive Tadhg Daly.

Fair deal

Meanwhile, a change in the rate at which income from renting out a nursing home resident’s private principal residence under the Fair Deal scheme takes effect today.

Anyone in nursing home care supported by the Fair Deal scheme may now have the rental income from their principal private residence assessed at 40% rather than 80%. Any rental income received from a property which is not the person’s principal residence will continue to be treated as general income.