HSE orders investigation into deaths at nursing home

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has ordered an immediate investigation into the deaths of patients who died in the care of Leas Cross nursing home.

It will extend to a review of the deaths of patients who died shortly after transfer from Leas Cross to acute hospitals and will begin with an examination of nursing and medical files.

It is understood the investigation will be undertaken by Prof Des O’Neill, a consultant geriatrician at Tallaght Hospital.

In a separate development, the VHI, which has a contract with Leas Cross, is considering withdrawing cover from the nursing home. A spokesperson for the VHI said their contract with the home is due to expire in September. “We are looking at the possibility of removing them from our current directory.”

She said just €2,500 was paid out by the VHI to Leas Cross so far this year.

It is also open to health authorities to seek de-registration of the nursing home through the courts.

Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd, who received confirmation of the investigation into patient deaths via a parliamentary question, criticised the VHI for continuing to include Leas Cross on its list of approved nursing homes.

“The VHI approves nursing homes only once every three years . . . I would welcome an immediate and urgent review of this out-of-date policy,” he said.

The HSE investigation will go back to 2001, when Leas Cross was extended and patient places increased from 38 to 110. A HSE spokesperson said the review would seek to identify “if there were any patterns or trends” in the deaths. He said it was not possible to say how many patients would be included in the review because “every patient that stayed at the home since 2001 will have to be tracked.”

A report into the death of a client at Leas Cross carried out by former blood board chief Martin Hynes, has not yet been published. A spokesperson for the Department of Health said parties mentioned in the report had until July 6 to make submissions to the HSE.

Meanwhile, the cost of refunding illegal charges for nursing homes has risen to €1.4 billion. That figure could increase to well over €2 billion if there are successful legal challenges against Tánaiste Mary Harney’s decision to impose the Statute of Limitations on the compensation scheme.