A number of elderly patients at Beaumont Hospital have been put on two weeks’ notice that they face a weekly bill of €1,365 if they fail to apply for nursing home support under the State’s Fair Deal scheme.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the Dublin hospital said they had written to 23 patients and their families cautioning that they will incur the substantial charge if they fail to return their application forms by March 26.

The spokesman said the advisory letters had been sent to patients or nominated family contacts who had already been assessed as requiring long-term care but who had so far failed to complete the required Nursing Home Support Scheme application form. He said the forms had yet to be returned despite repeated requests.

"In the face of constant pressure on our staff and resources and in the interests of fairness to patients awaiting admission to beds, including those coming through our extremely busy emergency department, we must ensure that patients fit for discharge meet their obligations," the spokesman said.

The hospital has also decided that from now on, all patients newly listed for long-term care will be required to submit their application form within 15 working days of listing for long-term care and will be receiving letters to this effect.

The spokesman said there was no question of a charge being levied on anyone who has already submitted their form, provided they dealt with any supplementary questions in a timely manner.

Beaumont Hospital said last November it had 143 patients whose phase of acute care had ended and were fit to be discharged to more appropriate accommodation, such as a nursing home. Since then 44 patients have been approved for HSE funding under the Fair Deal and in all 63 have been discharged to nursing homes in that period. That still leaves the hospital with 105 patients fit to be discharged out of a total complement of 820 beds.

Yesterday, Age Action Ireland spokesman Eamon Timmins said the feedback from the public in relation to the Fair Deal scheme – under which the State can acquire up to 15% of the value of the family home towards the cost of care – was that people remain angered by it.

He also said they had concerns that people could be forced into long-term care and therefore into the Fair Deal scheme, because they could not access community care which would have suited their needs.

"We would be concerned that they try and charge people for long-term care that aren’t in genuine need of it but who are forced into it because they can’t get community care or home help because of a lack of resources," Mr Timmins said.

Hospital toughens stance on care fees - The Independent.ie