Panacea Health Research (PHR) is a company founded in Dublin in 2015. Established by Colin Broderick and Stephen Walsh, PHR seeks to draw on access to spatial and demographic pattern analysis and graphic visualisation in order to provide, accurate, timely and evidence based solutions for the healthcare challenges of our time.

This briefing note will provide an introduction to the location of nursing homes of under 60 beds in the Republic of Ireland. It will also estimate the level of investment required in order bring existing facilities up to the 60 bed level. The rationale for this examination arises from a report commissioned by the Department of Health in 2015 which established that:

“…the minimum efficient nursing home size, given the regulatory requirements now in effect in the sector, appears to be approximately 60 beds, though some…are of the opinion that it is higher”

Nursing Home Capacity
(Under 60 Beds)

According to a comprehensive survey of existing nursing home capacity, PHR estimates that approximately 70.8% of nursing homes in the Republic of Ireland contain less than 60 beds. This is similar in Northern Ireland, where 76% of nursing homes have less that 60 beds. A breakdown of the number of beds in nursing homes nationwide, undertaken by PHR, is outlined in Table 1 below.

Number of Homes

Number of Beds Public Private Total
No 50-59 Beds 8 83 91
No 40-49 Beds 16 81 97
No 30-39 Beds 25 76 101
No 20-29 Beds 24 72 96
No 10-19 Beds 7 20 27
Under 10 Beds 0 0 0
Total Under 60 Beds 80 332 412

The private sector, by virtue of its dominant representation in the residential care market has the greatest number of homes under the 60 bed threshold.

The map above illustrates the spatial distribution of these facilities. Spatially, there is no consistent rule of thumb which can applied to the disparate location of these smaller homes. Mirroring the wider pattern of nursing home locations, the greatest concentration of the homes are located in the Dublin and Cork metropolitan areas.

Cost of Refurbishing Beds to 60 Bed Threshold

Using estimated refurbishment figures provided by the Department of Health, PHR has calculated the rough cost of expanding existing nursing home units up to the 60 bed threshold. The figure has been generated by applying the cost per bed for both public and private nursing homes, having determined the difference between the 60 bed figure.

Operator Cost of Expansion up to 60 Bed Threshold
Public €131,362,312
Private €374,585,560
Total €505,887,872

It should be noted that each individual nursing home will have its own unique planning and development contexts and may be restricted by virtue of the nature of the structure in which the operation is housed or available site area. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, this calculation is one of the first which explores the cost of upgrading existing stock to facilitate greater efficiencies for operators and to cater for increased demographically driven demand.

Contact Us

If you want to find out more about this note then please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@phr.ie