Large 68-bed nursing home in Cork latest to close

A 68-bed nursing home in Belgooly, Co Cork has become the latest to announce it is closing, in what a representative body for the sector warns is an “exceptionally worrying trend”.

The large nursing home is one of ten run by private company Aperee, who has said none of its other facilities are affected.

Recent years have seen more than 30 private or voluntary-run nursing homes close, with many complaining of financial pressures facing the sector and funding shortfalls.

In a statement, Aperee said the decision had been taken to shut the Belgooly home following “a full, independent review of its business”.

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“The review found that there was uncertainty as to the long term viability of the home, along with infrastructural restrictions at the property,” it said.

The operator said the “regrettable” decision was part of a plan to ensure the wider nursing home group “continues on a sustainable footing”.

The 49 residents currently living in the home, their families and staff were informed of the closure on Wednesday.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has been notified the home will be shutting within the next six months.

“During this timeframe, Aperee Living will continue to provide care on site while working closely with residents and their families to find suitable alternative accommodation to meet their needs,” the statement said.

The closure would have “no impact” on residents in the group’s other homes, it said.

[ Nursing homes call for €191m to avert more closures ]

Aperee was founded by Cork-based investments firm BlackBee Group, but is currently owned by a wider cohort of investors.

Earlier this week, the 24-bed Cedar House Nursing Home, in south Dublin, also announced it was closing as it was “too small to be financially viable”.

Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI), which represents private and voluntary providers, who make up around four fifths of all homes, said the closures were part of an “exceptionally worrying trend”.

Tadhg Daly, chief executive of NHI, said the representative body had been consistently warning of the pressures facing the sector.

“The closure of a nursing home is traumatic for residents, their families and staff,” he said.

“In the past three years, 36 private and voluntary nursing homes have been forced to close, leaving over 1,200 of our most vulnerable people having to go through the very upsetting experience of being uprooted from their home and friends,” he said.

Many operators have criticised Fair Deal, the State scheme which part funds the cost of a bed in a private or voluntary nursing home, with the resident contributing their income, or a portion of their assets, such as property sold after their death.

Private operators have said previously agreed Fair Deal rates have been outpaced by inflation, as well as complaining about disparity in funding between their facilities and homes run by the Health Service Executive.

The State’s healthcare regulator has privately raised issues around the Fair Deal scheme with Department of Health officials.

In a March 22nd board meeting, Hiqa discussed the varied timings for when nursing home operators were eligible to renegotiate their public funding rates.

This meant some had been able to secure recent increases while others remained locked in to previously agreed rates, set prior to recent cost inflation.

[ Ireland’s nursing homes are facing an existential threat ]

The watchdog noted at the end of last year there were 11 less nursing homes than the year before, according to minutes of a February 1st board meeting.

Carol Grogan, chief inspector at Hiqa, told the meeting providers had cited the “gap” in funding as a “core reason for closures”.

Ms Grogan said inflationary pressures had also led to some nursing homes introducing “additional charges” for residents or increasing existing charges for services.