Whistleblowers wrongly fired by home, says EAT
In a statement yesterday, SIPTU said five of its members were constructively dismissed in 2009 after raising concerns over the welfare of elderly patients at Avondale Nursing Home, Callan, Co Kilkenny.
The nursing home was taken over by the Health Service Executive on Thursday after the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) obtained an interim order canceling its registration.
A previous HIQA inspection of the premises found some dementia patients were dressed in all-in-one sleep suits at night, zipped to the rear, which management said was to stop interference with incontinence pads. The report also showed residents were given bibs instead of napkins at mealtime.
Yesterday, SIPTU said the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) had found in favour of former nursing home staff Mary Dunne and her daughter, Erica, from Callan, last month, after nursing home director, Miriam Holmes, failed to appear to offer any defence to their claims of constructive dismissal.
Mary and Erica Dunne were dismissed after they complained over the inadequate care of patients at the home. Their prospect of compensation has receded following the decision to close the home.
Seven other SIPTU members who worked at the home have also taken cases for unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal against their former employer. In 2005, an elderly man who had Alzheimer’s and cancer, died at the home just weeks after he was strapped to a chair and sustained severe burns from a radiator.
Eleven elderly people were still living at the home yesterday as the HSE began the process of finding somewhere else for them to live. It is expected to close within a fortnight.
One woman whose uncle has lived at the home for the last 10 years said she had her own concerns about the facility before hearing of HIQA’s intervention.
Maria Ronan, a niece of Billy Ronan from Ballykeeffe in Cuffesgrange, Co Kilkenny, said: “I rang HIQA myself about six weeks ago. I didn’t know if anyone else had complaints about them. I’m almost relieved that he [her uncle] is being moved, but for Billy’s sake, that’s his home now, and he’s going to be upset.”
HSE Community care manager Breda Kavanagh warned staff could be left out of pocket when the home closes.
Meanwhile, ALONE, the charity which provides support for older persons in need, said they “continue to be alarmed at the remarkably poor level of service in some private nursing homes”.
Kathleen Lynch, minister for state with responsibility for older people, said whistleblower legislation, “would happen”.
* A CORK nursing home that closed voluntarily in April had consistently failed to carry out timely improvements recommended by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
Madonna House in Ballincollig, Co Cork, was inspected on five separate occasions by the health watchdog between October 2009 and February 2011 and inspectors repeatedly found breaches of best practise and failure to implement actions deemed “urgent” by HIQA.
Following the most recent inspection in February, HIQA said the majority of 39 required actions outlined in a report last October had not been implemented.
These included:
* Failure to appoint a full-time person in charge — on the day of inspection the person in charge said she was working part-time as she was not in a position to work full-time.
* lSluicing and laundry took place in the same room. The sluice equipment consisted of a toilet bowl and it had no function to adequately sterilise the communal bedpans that were used in the communal commodes.
* The home possessed a standing weighing scales only, and one resident had not been weighed in five years.
* One resident who had a range of medical conditions, a history of falls and challenging behaviour did not have written nursing care plans detailing the required care. The same resident was being administered an antibiotic for a chest infection without the nursing staff having seen the prescription.
* One resident had a wound dressed in such a way that it posed risk of cross-contamination to a second wound, as well as to other patients.
The home, operated by Cana Retirement Services, closed on April 15. The registered provider was Maurice Duane.
