Health board launches probe into assault claim

A health board today launched an investigation into an alleged assault on a Kerry nursing home resident by a member of staff.

Five residents at the Dromore Nursing Home in Listowel have been moved to another facility at the request of the owner following the incident.

Two residents remain at the home.

The Southern Health Board (SHB) said the nursing home would face prosecution if it had failed to comply with the nursing home regulations.

It appointed an inspection team comprising a senior area medical officer, an assistant director of public health nursing and a senior environmental health officer.

The SHB said the staff of the nursing home, which is on the list of approved hospitals and nursing homes, were fully co-operating with the inquiry.

When contacted today, a spokesman for Dromore Nursing Home said the allegations that a member of staff had hit a resident were false.

The growth of private nursing homes in the last decade has been fuelled by the increasing numbers of elderly people and the tax incentives provided by the Government for new buildings.

The number of private nursing home beds has increased from around 10,400 in 1994 to 14,900 today.

It is estimated that around 10,000 of the 500,000 Irish people over the age of 65 require full-time residential care.