More small nursing homes will close without action from Government, Daly warns

Smaller nursing homes will continue to close without “urgent action” from Government, Tadhg Daly, chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland has warned.

He said there was a “full blown crisis” in the sector. At the same time, the HSE is advising nursing home residents to begging returning to “normal” after the pandemic.

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In a message to residents the executive says a return to pre-pandemic levels of activity will help give you more chances to enjoy life and see more of your family and friends.

“It is good for you to be active in mind and body. Nursing home staff should support you to be active. The nursing homes should provide activities for you and other residents”, he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland programme

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According to figures from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa), four private nursing homes deregistered in the past fortnight, while eight have closed so far this year, on top of almost 30 between 2018 and 2021.

Mr Daly pointed to increasing costs, stringent Hiqa regulations and a lack of any increase in public funding via the Fair Deal scheme since before the pandemic as central factors in the crisis.

“If we don’t act now there will be more closures,” said Mr Daly. Those being forced to close were “heartbroken and devastated” for themselves, for their residents, their staff and their communities, he added.

Among those announcing closure are the Maypark Nursing Home and Rockshire Care Centre — both in Co Waterford.

The Waterford News and Star reports the homes, which each accommodate 38 residents and have been in operation for over 40 years, were closing because, according to a spokesman for both, the “challenges presented in operating small, family-run nursing homes are proving unsustainable”.

The spokesman continued: “We feel that we had developed something special over the years in our small, family-run homes and we are enormously proud of our great team across both homes who we consider to be our extended family.

“We have been under considerable pressure in recent times, mainly due to Hiqa’s unrealistic expectations of small nursing homes, the NTPF (Fair Deal) unwilling to negotiate a fair increase in the face of soaring costs and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The combination of these factors and in the absence of any real or timely support from Government or the Regulator, has meant that we have unfortunately reached the end of the road.”

In Athlone, the 25-bed Stella Maris nursing home will close on Friday after 35 years.

Clare McNally, who with her sister Aine Moran, took over running it from their parents, said: “We have no desire to finish — even now we don’t — but the only ones that can survive are the big nursing homes with big investors. The worry is where will all the local people go. There doesn’t seem to be much forward thinking on the care of older people,”

Minister of State for older people, Mary Butler, told RTÉ she hoped to have a programme of assistance for the sector ready in coming weeks.

Hiqa has been asked for a comment.