Tragic Evelyn just months from having own home

EVELYN JOEL, the woman who died a week after being removed from her daughter’s house in a severely malnourished state, was only months away from having her own home.

Yesterday Wexford County Council confirmed 58-year-old Mrs Joel, who died on January 7 at Wexford General Hospital, had been approved for a specially-adapted house. Ms Joel had Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

The house is currently under construction at Cherryorchard, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, and is part of a 33-house county council housing scheme.

A statement from Wexford County Council said Mrs Joel had submitted an application for re-housing on July 21, 2004.

“Following receipt of her application, Mrs Joel’s application was assessed and she was deemed to be in need of re-housing in a specially adapted house.

“A specially adapted house for Mrs Joel was under construction as part of the 33 house scheme at present under construction at Cherryorchard, Enniscorthy, at the time of her death,” the statement said.

It also confirmed Mrs Joel was never a tenant of any Wexford local authority.

Ms Joel’s death provoked national outrage when details of her neglect emerged. She had been living with her daughter, Eleanor Joel, at 37 Cluain Dara estate, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford for approximately one year prior to her death.

Her daughter confirmed she had been bed-bound since September 2005, yet it appears she was not visited by either social services or any health professionals since that time. When she was removed from her daughter’s house by emergency services on New Year’s Eve, she was lying in her own excrement and weighed under four stone. Her daughter said her mother had not wanted medical intervention.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) South Eastern Area is currently investigating what access, if any, Ms Joel had to social and health services in the two years prior to her death. It has emerged patients in the South East have to travel to either Dublin or Cork to see a consultant neurologist, which Ms Joel, as an MS sufferer, would need access to.

A 2003 Comhairle na n-Ospidéil report on neurology services recommended the appointment of two consultants, to be based at Waterford Regional Hospital, and linked to services in Cork. This arrangement is not yet in place.

The HSE said there was “a wide range of medical and general services throughout the south east accessible to patients diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis,” including nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy. However, home support is not automatically granted but is based on assessment of need.

The HSE inquiry team, chaired by Dr Joe Duggan, consultant and geriatrician at the Mater hospital, met for the first time yesterday. The meeting took place in Dublin in private. A garda inquiry into Mrs Joel’s death is also underway.