Nursing-home shortages
Photo: Ómar Óskarsson
An estimated 480-510 new nursing-home places will be needed by 2020. The most urgent needs are in the Greater Reykjavik area and in parts of Northern and Southern Iceland.
This was the assessment of Health Minister, Kristján Þór Júlíusson, in his speech on nursing homes and services for the elderly in the Icelandic Parliament (‘Alþingi’) earlier today. He was responding to questions put to him by Helgi Hjörvar, MP for the Social Democratic Alliance (‘Samfylkingin’).
Demographic and financial challenges
Hjörvar asked the Minister, given Iceland’s ageing population and serious shortage of nursing-home places, how he intended to deal with the issue and how he thought supervision of these important services could be improved.
Júlíusson gave a reminder of the high costs involved: some ISK 30 million (approx. €200,000) to set up a nursing home, plus operating costs of ISK 10 million (approx. €67,000). There are just under 12,000 over-80s in Iceland and just over 2,600 nursing-home places available. The average waiting time for a place is currently 82 days.
Kristján Þór Júlíusson, Icelandic Minister for Health. Photo: Júlíus Sigurjónsson
There was a good deal of support for Hjörvar’s initiative in today’s discussions in Alþingi, and general acknowledgement of the urgency of the matter. MPs discussed the macro-economic implications of a shortage of nursing-home places, how minimum services should be defined, and whether families should be helped to take care of elderly relatives themselves. Figures were quoted showing that the number of over-67s in Iceland will increase by 71% over the next fifteen years, with the over-80s increasing by 55%.
Integrating services
There was general agreement in the House that efforts should be made to integrate various local-authority services and take specific action. Júlíusson concluded by confirming that discussions on integrating home-nursing and social services were ongoing in his Ministry and that local authorities would be consulted. He also announced the imminent preparation of a five-year action plan and announcements on planned projects.
