Ireland's nursing home care sector faces deepening fragmentation, widening inequities, and unsustainable pressure on residents, families, and staff, according to a paper published by Nursing Homes Ireland.
The national representative organisation for private and voluntary nursing homes that have 27,000 residents, said that the absence of a national nursing home care policy is one of the most "serious systemic gaps" in Ireland’s health and social care framework.
The number of people aged 85 and over in Ireland is set to more than double by 2043, which according to stakeholders has "urgent implications" on planning, delivery, and funding of care, particularly for people with complex or high-dependency needs.
Human rights, safeguarding, equitable access, workforce planning, funding, innovation, and public perception are among the ten priorities outlined in the paper, which emphasises the need to embed quality of life, the resident's voice, and inter-agency collaboration across all aspects of policy development.
Those involved in the health and social care sectors contributed to the document through a roundtable discussion held in February. Participants "underscored" the absence of a safeguarding legislative framework tailored to nursing home care.
They emphasised the need for safeguarding to extend beyond procedural compliance or risk management.
Emotional neglect, restrictive practices, lack of communication, and social isolation were also recognised as safeguarding issues in their own right.
'Supporting Ageing in Place: Policy, Integration, and Nursing Home Care' concluded that Ireland "urgently needs" a dedicated national nursing home care policy that aligns resident rights, regulation, funding, planning, under a coherent vision of care.
