Once your acute care in Hospital is complete, you may choose to convalesce/recover further in a facility which offers convalescence care. Some private nursing homes provide convalescence care following a hospital stay to assist with recovery from an illness, injury or procedure.
Convalescence can be recommended by a clinician and availing of it is your decision. You and/or your family will need to choose and organise the facility that you would like to go to. St Vincent’s Private Hospital is not affiliated with private nursing homes and so you will be entering into a private arrangement with the facility of your choice. Your medical insurance company may provide some financial support towards the costs of private nursing homes.
If you are having a planned procedure and know that you will require convalescence on discharge from an acute hospital setting, please arrange this in advance of your admission. Private nursing homes need to be booked in advance and do not always have availability at short notice. If you remain in hospital beyond the acute phase of your care, you may be liable for hospital costs as private medical insurers do not cover convalescence care in acute hospitals.
Here is some information to assist you in the process of finding a suitable convalescence placement.
Guidance for Sourcing a suitable convalescence facility/nursing home
- HIQA (Health Information Quality Authority) provide a list of convalescent homes in Ireland that can be viewed on their website. Directory of Convalescent Homes: https://www.hiqa.ie/find-a-centre.
- Read through the list of convalescence homes in your area of choice and choose the ones which may suit you.
- Ask your admitting Consultant/Medical Team for an estimated discharge date as you will need this date to book into a convalescence placement in advance.
- Liaise with your insurance company about the level of cover towards the cost of convalescence. This will depend on your Insurance Company and the plan that you have purchased. It is your responsibility to organise your own transport to convalescence.
- Ask your Consultant/Medical Team to sign the Convalescence Medical Necessity Form (provided by Insurer) so you can claim from your Medical Insurance Company if possible.
- Phone each of the Convalescent Homes you have chosen as each one will have their own specific admission criteria and various costs. Advise them of you discharge date from hospital. You or your family may also like to make an appointment to visit the facilities for a viewing and or to meet the person in charge.
- Each convalescent home will have a process for booking convalesce stay, please liaise with nursing home of choice in relation to this.
- Some convalescence facilities also have access to physiotherapy at an additional cost, so you may need to enquire about their arrangements if this is something you wish to avail of.
The convalescent home/nursing home will also ask you for the following information:
- Recent diagnosis/ reason for admission to hospital
- List of Medications
- Mobility status and use of aids and other care requirements
- Handover letters from medical teams and other teams e.g. Physio
The hospital will provide this information to the facility at your request. Please liaise with the Nurse Manager in charge of the ward you are on.