Connacht Tribune
Public nursing home costs are almost double those of private facilities
The cost of nursing home care in HSE-run facilities in Galway is 80% more than their private and voluntary counterparts, according to figures released earlier this month.
Weekly care costs per patient at seven HSE nursing homes across the county averaged out at €1,573, as compared to €876 at 36 private/voluntary outlets across the county.
Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) – the body representing the private and voluntary operators – have this week hit out at the HSE’s level of payments to their own outlets at a time when the Fair Deal scheme is coming under increased budgetary pressures.
In the Fair Deal scheme, a nursing home resident ‘gives up’ 80% of their income – normally the Old Age Pension (€237 to €247) – while also committing 7.5% of their assets for a three-year period.
This three-year ‘cap’ on the asset charges, however, did not apply to farms or small businesses leading in cases to farms and properties being sold off – under proposed legislation this is due to change over the coming months.
The new legislation – being introduced by Minister of State, Jim Daly – will also give farmers and small businesses a three-year limit on the 7.5% asset charge.
Private and voluntary nursing homes are required to negotiate the fees payable to them under the Fair Deal scheme, with the National Treatment Purchase Fund representing the State.
Tadhg Daly, CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland, told the Connacht Tribune this week that the private/voluntary operators were not being paid enough while the HSE operated facilities were costing way too much.
“There is an ongoing price review and we are hoping for some results from this shortly but really there has to be a meeting somewhere in the middle as regards the difference in the costs between the two sectors.
“The ‘80% differential’ in the fees paid to the private and voluntary homes as compared to the HSE facilities in Galway is staggering,” said Mr Daly.
He said that nationally, nursing home costs at HSE operated facilities were ‘coming in’ at 66% more than what the private sector were getting at a time when the Fair Deal budget was under severe pressure.
“There have been reports that older people requiring access to nursing home care will have their funding support delayed as the HSE grapples with the financial pressures.
“Yet across Ireland, it is paying its own nursing homes nearly twice the fees payable to private and voluntary nursing homes that are operating alongside them.
“The HSE continues to utilise the €1 billion Fair Deal budget to increase payments to its nursing homes minus accountability . . . this highlights the glaring discrimination perpetuated by the State in nursing home care,” said Mr Daly.
He said that late last year, the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee expressed strong concerns regarding the value provided by the HSE in its utilisation of the Fair Deal budget, but instead of the issue being addressed, ‘State discrimination in the scheme was growing’.
In Galway’s neighbouring counties of Mayo and Roscommon, the difference in the nursing home weekly charges between HSE and the private/voluntary is almost exactly replicated.
A resident in a HSE nursing home in Mayo costs €1,543 per week as compared to €886 in the private outlets: in Roscommon the HSE cost per week is €1,537 as compared to €865 for the private homes.
Of 36 private/voluntary Galway nursing homes, the weekly costs/charges vary from €800 to €935 The highest nursing home costs across the country for HSE outlets were: Laois (€2,184 per week); Longford (€1,956); Westmeath (€1,806); Meath (€1,755); Monaghan (€1,731) and Offaly (€1,720).
Last week, Galway IFA representatives welcomed the announcement that the Fair Deal changes for farmers and small businesses (the introduction of the three-year asset cap) had reached the Heads of Bill stage and could be enacted into law by the Autumn.
“This Bill is long overdue and will provide a badly needed break for many farm families who are under the most severe financial pressure,” said Teresa Roche, Galway IFA Chair on Farm Family and Social Affairs.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
