Leas Cross ex-director struck off register

The former director of nursing at Leas Cross Nursing Home has been struck off the nursing register.

The decision to not allow Gráinne Paula Conway to practice nursing in this country again followed an eight-day inquiry by a Fitness to Practise Committee where she was found guilty of professional misconduct.

Her misconduct related to her employment at Leas Cross between Jun 1999 and Mar 2005.

The inquiry found she “failed to ensure that any adequate care was afforded to residents of Leas Cross Nursing Home” including five named residents.

It also found she “failed to respond adequately or at all to some of the complaints raised in respect of the care afforded to the residents” of the home including five named residents.

The inquiry also ruled that she “failed to ensure that there was an effective complaints process in place and or failed to ensure that staff were adequately trained” around a complaints mechanism.

The An Bord Altranais committee found that Ms Conway’s failures were systematic meaning she could not “provide safe, adequate and appropriate care for residents”.

Fully accepting the committee’s findings, the board itself highlighted” the crucial role of the director of nursing in relation to the standard of care provided”.

Leas Cross Nursing Home closed in Aug 2005 after an RTÉ Prime Time Investigates programme found appalling standards of care at the Dublin centre, including neglect.

A follow-up inquiry concluded care of patients at the home was “deficient at many levels” and amounted to “institutional abuse”.

A 2009 Department of Health report into the home found that the problems at Leas Cross were first highlighted to the then health board as early as 2003.

The health authorities had detailed information regarding Leas Cross, covering a number of years, which included evidence of recurring problems yet the health authority wasn’t on high alert about standards at the home.

It also found that the owners of Leas Cross had not employed a sufficient number of competent staff to provide the necessary standard of nursing home care and that many care attendants lacked appropriate training.