The “Fair Deal” scheme waiting list has tripled in size since the start of the year. The number of elderly people waiting to get onto this scheme has jumped from 654 in February to over 2,100 currently.

An article in the Irish Times indicates that the waiting time has quadrupled from four to over 15 weeks. How are families coping during this long waiting period of almost four months? The cost of private nursing home care can be up to €1,000 per week which is a huge burden on families.

Other key points from the article:

• Some families, unable to pay these fees, are readmitting their elderly relatives to hospital as the only way of coping. This can cost the State up to €850 per night per patient.
• Minister for Health Leo Varadkar, acknowledging the delays indicated that the scheme is budget-capped and when the budget runs out, no more people can be admitted to it until someone leaves.
• 50 more people per week join the waiting list

Surely it is false economics to keep elderly people in hospital beds when what they really need is nursing home care? While these beds are so occupied the waiting list for other ill people awaiting medical procedures also grows.

Hopefully the new Minister for Health can look at this absurd situation with a new pair of eyes and find a workable solution to this conundrum — workable for the State as well as workable and affordable for the elderly and their families.