Health Minister David Ashford has defended his department’s contract with a nursing home operator.

It was revealed in the House of Keys this month that taxpayers had been billed more than £500,000 for empty beds at the Salisbury Street care home in Douglas.

The government-owned but privately-operated Salisbury Street care home in Douglas opened in May last year - and was heralded as a way of tackling ’bed blocking’ at Noble’s Hospital.

As part of the contract awarded to Adorn Domiciliary Care, 40 of the 68 beds were to be made available to those who are solely reliant on state benefits to fund nursing care costs. And yet the taxpayer pays £812.10 a week per bed, whether they are full or not.

In a written reply to House of Keys and Tynwald questions it was revealed the total cost of the empty beds from the start of the contract to October was £562,736. Mr Ashford told the Examiner that while it is correct to say his department pays for the beds whether they are used or not, this would also be the case if the residents were in Noble’s Hospital.

He said: ’In this case, capacity is provided by the private sector - but the bed costs is a constant whether or not it is occupied.’ He said the contract with Adorn means while the DHSC pays for the beds, Adorn pays rent to the DHSC for the building. He said: ’This helps to offset the cost of us making this provision. As a direct result of securing a block of 40 beds, we are able to negotiate a considerable discount on the cost of the beds. This means that the contract at Salisbury Street also delivers a saving compared to the cost of a standard nursing home bed.’

But the Minister said the key point was that it provided access to nursing care to people who normally cannot afford appropriate nursing care.

’It is crucial that those that need access to acute care are not prevented from accessing it due to people being unable to leave hospital, for the next stage of their recovery.

’It is this that the provision of beds at Salisbury Street prevents - it ensures a comfortable contingency.’