Inspections reports have found fire safety concerns at a number of nursing homes, including at one where office furniture was blocking a designated escape route.

An unsolicited tip-off led health inspectors to discover that 28 staff members had resigned from a Laois nursing home in a four-month period last year.

A 90-YEAR-OLD woman died in a house fire after a candle in her bedroom ignited curtains and foam in a chair.