The Patient Safety Authority should be brought in to act as a watchdog over the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

That is the call from Nursing Homes Ireland which says elderly people may be put at risk, because the fund is unaccountable.

The NTPF is charged with reducing waiting lists by purchasing health services from the private sector.

Nursing Homes Ireland says the fund is forcing down the fees paid to its members, and that could have a negative impact on standards.

Tadgh Daly, CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland, said: “The Patient Safety Authority are our health commissioning agency and should be an agency that have oversight and at the moment they are accountable to nobody.

“There needs to be accountability given the health spend and given the amount of people that are cared for by Nursing homes Ireland members across the country.”