Nursing home closure put residents at risk

A HASTILY arranged exodus of elderly residents from a private Kilkenny nursing home put them in serious risk and forced authorities to take over running of the facility on an emergency basis.

When health officials arrived at Avondale Nursing Home in July they found the person in charge, Miriam Holmes, was in breach of seven different regulations.

Money and personal belongings of the residents could not be properly accounted for. Staff had not been paid.