Report: Home incapable of caring for McKenna

A controversial nursing home where a man with Down’s Syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease was transferred shortly before he died was clearly not capable of caring for him, a report revealed today.

An independent report into the death of Peter McKenna, 60, which was commissioned by the Health Service Executive (HSE), said Leas Cross nursing home in north Dublin was not in a position to fully care for him.

Peter McKenna, who had Down’s Syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease, was transferred from St Michael’s House in Ballymun to the Leas Cross nursing home in Swords where he later died of blood poisoning in October 2000.

He had been cared for by St Michael’s House for 23 years and was moved against his family’s wishes because St Michael’s said it could no longer care for his needs.

Aidan Browne, national director of primary community and continuing care with the HSE, said it was clear from Mr Martin Hynes' report that there were still issues remaining for the family of Mr McKenna.

“This is hugely regrettable, considering the time elapsed since Peter’s death, considering the family's patience in awaiting the final report, and due to the amount of work done in the preparation of the final report,” Mr Browne said.

The independent report into the death was given to the McKenna family last week and they held an hour-long meeting with Health Minister Mary Harney yesterday.

Mr Browne said the HSE and St Michael’s House had an outstanding responsibility to answer the family’s questions if they were not fully answered in the report.

The report found St Michael’s House, in addition to its previous experience of Leas Cross, had relied on the fact of the nursing homes registration with the health board to assess it.

Mr Hynes found Leas Cross, which has since shut down, had overestimated their ability to offer the kind of nursing care Mr McKenna required.

Mr Browne said: “The final report found that given Peter’s particular requirements, his placement in a first floor room, and his inability to properly use the nurse call button did not exhibit a full acknowledgement by Leas Cross of Peter’s needs or level of dependency.”

Mr McKenna’s half brother, Dan Moore has claimed St Michael’s house was still in denial over its responsibility in the affair.

St Michael’s House said last week that it had acted at all times in the best interests of Mr McKenna and that the decision to transfer him to Leas Cross was made in good faith.

It initiated the transfer after having cared for Mr McKenna for 23 years because it could no longer look after him.

As Mr McKenna was a ward of court, the ultimate decision on his transfer was made by the High Court, St Michael’s added.

The final report from Mr Hynes said it was not possible to align the conclusions of the report with all the comments received from St Michael’s House.

The report recommended an integrated complaints procedure should be installed within the HSE to ensure complaints coming from a number of sources can be linked and dealt with effectively.

It also highlighted the importance of assessing a unit to which a patient is being transferred according to the particular needs of that patient.

Mr Hynes said it was vital staff members of any organisation had a defined process for raising concerns to another level if they believe they have not been addressed.

The HSE said it had acted on some of the recommendations including developing a national complaints management framework.

Health service bosses said they were working with a Government Department over proposed new legislation to improve standards in the nursing home sector.

A national standardised inspection process has been adopted by HSE officials around the country which includes unannounced inspections of nursing homes.