HSE asks union to withdraw patient death claims

Senior HSE management have asked a psychiatric union representative to formally retract claims made about patients moved to nursing homes against their wishes and who later died.

Kerry Psychiatric Nurses Association representative Cormac Williams has been outspoken about how the closure of St Finan’s hospital, open since the 1800s, is taking place. He claimed in the Irish Examiner that patients transferred to private nursing homes died within a short time span of the move.

The HSE has asked Mr Williams to “substantiate” or withdraw his claims.

“You have made a serious claim that former residents of St Finan’s Hospital, who were transferred to other locations during the closure of previous wards, died prematurely as a result of the transfer,” the HSE said.

“Clearly before you decided as a professional association to publicise this claim you will have collated the required evidence on this matter. I request you now to bring forward your evidence which supports this claim so that it can be considered by the mental health management team in the first instance. I am anxious to have the claim examined in full and dealt with in an appropriate manner.”

In a letter seen by the Irish Examiner, Mr Williams responded, pointing out a number of incidents he believes back up his claims.

“In relation to the fact that a number of female patients from Our Lady’s Ward who were transferred to private nursing homes died within a short time span of their transfer, I again wish to confirm that we believe this is true and factual in every respect. Two female patients died within approximately eight to 10 weeks of being transferred to the nursing home,” he wrote.

“Staff of Our Lady’s Ward witnessed at first hand the crying and anguish of the two female residents on the day they left. While elderly but in reasonably good health, staff were shocked to learn the two female patients only survived for a short time in the nursing home. It is the view of staff that these ladies would not have died in such a short time span had they remained on in St Finan’s Hospital and the trauma of being transferred to an alien environment was the major factor in their premature death.”

Mr Williams pointed to another example where a patient of St Finan’s and another HSE service was moved to a private nursing home in November 2011.

“This client, who spent over 30 years in St Finan’s Hospital and 10 years in Ballybribeen IDU services, died within nine weeks of transferring to a private nursing home.” He says staff believe the death would not have occurred if he had not been moved.