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	A leading consultant has dismissed what he has described as a &#39;scare story&#39; about families leaving elderly relatives in hospitals.</p>
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	Des O&#39;Neill from Tallaght Hospital in Dublin says the claims in today&#39;s Irish Times are being blown out of proportion.</p>
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	Under the Fair Deal scheme, a patient&#39;s assets are used to fund a nursing home place.</p>
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	The paper says it has seen HSE emails where people are accused of leaving OAPs in hospital beds, rather than sending them to a nursing home - to protect their inheritance.</p>
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	However, Consultant Geriatrician Des O&#39;Neill says that hardly never happens.</p>
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	Dr O&#39;Neill said: &quot;This almost certainly has elements of a scare story about it, I mean this is an absolute minority as we see it.</p>
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	&quot;But what&#39;s interesting is this headline in a way, because unless there has been a ward of court or power of attorney, they don&#39;t actually have a specific say-so over a person&#39;s assets.&quot;</p>
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	(Published by the Irish Examiner on the 18th January 2017)</p>
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	<a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/leading-consultant-dismisses-scare-story-about-families-leaving-elderly-in-hospitals-772956.html">http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/leading-consultant-dismisses-scare-story-about-families-leaving-elderly-in-hospitals-772956.html</a></p>
