Essentially, the Fair Deal Scheme funding will cover bed and board, nursing and personal care appropriate to the level of care needs of the resident, laundry service and basic aids and appliances necessary to assist a person with the activities of daily living while in long-term nursing home residential care.
What needs to be remembered is that there can be significant additional costs depending on the needs of the individual resident as well as costs relating to the nursing home selected that are not covered by the Fair Deal Scheme funding and this sometimes comes as a shock to applicants/their families.
Typically, additional costs relate to two main types:
1. An Individual resident's needs
There may be costs relating to hairdressing and other grooming preferences, physiotherapy from external practitioners, costs relating to chiropodists, costs for equipment such as new or replacement hearing aids per the resident's wishes, new walking appliances, etc.
2. Nursing home related extras
Then there can be (significant) additional costs for each resident relating to activities and entertainment put on by the nursing home for the benefit of the residents. While the idea and the intentions are very positive, for some residents and their families, these extra costs can be quite a challenge to fund. In addition, depending on the state of health of an individual resident, they may not even be in a position to avail of such activities but yet they must pay towards the costs of same.
Other goods and services may be available under schemes such as the Medical Card or Drugs Payment Scheme.
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