MINISTER FOR Health Mary Harney has rejected claims by nursing home operators that she authorised them to pass on a €190 inspection fee to residents.
Nursing Homes Ireland, the main representative body for nursing home owners, said yesterday that Ms Harney had indicated the fees would be passed on to residents.
The organisation said it will continue to charge residents the fee which it regarded as a “Government levy”.
However, officials at the Department of Health yesterday said Ms Harney has privately written to the organisation on three occasions in recent months, pointing out that fee is to be paid by nursing home providers only.
Any charges in excess of what has already been agreed between a resident and nursing home are in breach of the care regulations, one of the letters states.
In a letter sent to Nursing Home Ireland’s chief executive last week, a senior official said Ms Harney’s comments about expecting “fees to be passed on” at a press conference earlier this year related to a new system of financing nursing home care, and did not authorise nursing home owners to levy residents with the €190 annual charge.
In the same letter, Noel Usher, director of the Office for Older People, said: “I reiterate, therefore, that these fees are payable by the registered provider . . . and residents should only be charged those fees set out in the agreed contract. I would be grateful if you could advise your members accordingly.” Two other letters, one sent on October 7th and the other on August 31st, also stated that the fee is aimed at nursing home operators. The fee is set out by regulations made under the Health Act, 2007. This states that the “fee is payable directly to the authority by the registered provider”.
It says the registered provider, or nursing-home operator, must pay the €190 fee in three equal instalments, on January 1st, May 1st and September 1st each year.
Tadhg Daly of Nursing Homes Ireland said yesterday that it was unfair to expect nursing home operators to absorb the €190 fee, which would equate to about €5 million a year for the estimated 27,000 privately-owned nursing home beds in the State.
In a response to Mr Usher last week, Mr Daly said: “This is, in effect, a Government levy to finance the registration and inspection of all nursing homes by the Health Information and Quality Authority [Hiqa].
“Effectively, nursing homes have been charged with the responsibility of collecting this annual levy for transfer to Hiqa.”
The invoicing of nursing home residents with the fee has caused anger among many older people and their families.
Age Action Ireland said it is opposed to any attempt to try to charge residents the fee. Eamon Timmins, the group’s spokesman, said the fee was an operating cost which residents should not have to pay.
It is unclear who will bear the cost of the fees once the new system of financing nursing home care come into force later this month. Under this scheme, the National Treatment Purchase Fund will pay a pre-arranged fee to nursing homes for each bed.