Reports on some homes ‘worse than Leas Cross’

SOME private nursing homes are failing to meet basic standards for elderly people under their care.

The claim was made by Fine Gael’s Fergus O’Dowd after he examined nursing home inspectorate reports on the HSE website.

The Louth TD raised concerns about almost 30 nursing homes, describing some as “very bad” cases.

Mr O’Dowd said he found some of the negative commentary about facilities was worse than on the Leas Cross inspection reports.

He discovered staffing issues, particularly at night, had been raised by the inspectorate in a significant number of nursing homes.

The Leas Cross report found that the north county Dublin home failed to employ enough competent staff to provide the necessary standard of nursing care. There was also evidence many care attendants lacked appropriate training.

Mr O’Dowd said he hoped the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), now charged with inspecting nursing homes, would “root out” the bad facilities because the HSE had failed to do so.

Tadhg Daly, chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, said even one badly run nursing home out of 450 was one too many.

He pointed out that there was still no established norm for staffing in homes as the issue had been fudged by Government and HIQA.

Tony Mullins of the Leas Cross Deaths Relatives Action Group believed there was no political will to deal with the situation.

Mr Mullins’ late mother, Kitty, was a former resident at the controversial home that closed in August 2005.

“Inspections were not the problem at Leas Cross – there were more 20 inspections at the home and there were written reports. Nothing was done about those reports. There was no enforcement. That was the problem,” he said.

“You can set up inspectorates left right and centre but if you have got an organisation where none of the management are accountable, where decisions are not taken at meetings where minutes are recorded so there is a clear record, you have got an impossible situation. That is the real scandal here.”

Mr Mullins said the group was now going to study the report and decide what it planned to do next. “I think we will continue to try and influence events but, after listening to Mr O’Dowd today (Friday), I think we have achieved very little.”

Report findings

AMONG the shocking findings in some facilities made by nursing home inspectors were:

* A care assistant removing a bedpan insert containing straw-coloured fluid and disposing of the contents down a bath.

* Mattresses ripped and without waterproof covers, while others found to be unsuitable to provide pressure relief or prevention.

* A maximum dependency resident not dressed in a dignified or proper manner and having dirty, long nails.

* Nurse not familiar with residents’ ages, diagnosis and dependency levels.

* Poor practice in relation to wound management – a nurse was seen treating a leg ulcer without gloves and wearing nail varnish.

* Poor medical and nursing records and management of residents with MRSA.