HSE chief Bernard Gloster suggested some nursing home operators might take out significant loans against the business and then find that they could not sustain these borrowings
Bernard Gloster said individuals and companies entering the sector knew the rates that were paid and were aware of the projected income levels. His comments to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health came as the nursing home sector maintained that nearly 80 facilities had closed down over a period of roughly six years.
Mr Gloster said the HSE was the “funder of last resort” when private nursing homes got into trouble. However, he said the State could not go in, take over, or buy every private nursing home that failed. He said that would create “perverse incentives”.Drugs worth €16m seized and 11 arrested as gardaí expand major gangland operationHe said at any time the HSE “would be worried about five, six or seven nursing homes where it might have to intervene”.
The HSE chief suggested some nursing home operators might take out significant loans against the business and then find that they could not sustain these borrowings. “What happens when they get into trouble is that you start to see an erosion of quality. They can’t fund the staff or the maintenance on the premises. And you start to see a deterioration. Hiqa will only tolerate a certain level, particularly where something is disimproving.