Nursing home investigation bolsters need for public inquiry, say families

Families, who lost loved ones in a Covid-19 outbreak in Dealgan House, are calling for a public inquiry into the deaths in the sector

Families of those who died during a Covid-19 outbreak in a Co Louth nursing home last year say they were "saddened, but not surprised" by a nursing homes investigation on RTÉ.

Some of the families who lost loved ones during a deadly outbreak in Dealgan House in April and May 2020 say the programme on Prime Time "only bolsters the inalienable need for a public inquiry" into nursing homes.

Three whistleblowers and the domestic and commercial care advocacy group Care Champions featured in RTÉ Investigates: Care in Covid.

The programme detailed a number of allegations about care in three different homes.

One of those that featured was CareChoice Ballynoe Nursing Home in Upper Glanmire, Co Cork.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Dundalk families said: “We watched with sadness, but not surprise, the RTÉ Investigates programme on the nursing home sector.

“It showed how tragic events unfolded because of the weak policies in place around the private nursing home sector.

“Our concerns about what was happening in Dealgan House were raised with TDs, Hiqa, the HSE and others.

“Even today, more than 14 months after the tragedy in Dealgan, we continue to have to navigate the web of agencies and organisations that have part responsibility for those in nursing home care.” 

They added: “Trying to gather pieces of information, through Freedom of Information requests, to put together a picture of what happened in Dealgan has been time-consuming and frustrating, to say the least.

“The efforts we have made as families have been done against the very difficult background of our personal grief at losing our loved ones.

“We continue to call for a public inquiry into the events in Dealgan House last year to ensure that the truth of what happened is revealed.” 

Dealgan House families have been repeatedly calling for an investigation into what happened at the home.

In May last year, for example, the Irish Examiner reported a call for one from the niece of one of the residents at the home.

Inquests

Tereza Kieran said no member of her family and none of his friends visited her uncle Aódh Kieran for nearly two months before he contracted Covid-19 at Dundalk’s Dealgan House.

Yet the 72-year-old caught the virus, and is believed to have been the first resident to test positive there.

He subsequently died on April 9 and at least 23 residents subsequently died after contracting the virus.

In April this year, the Irish Examiner revealed that two of the country’s leading coroners are considering holding inquests into Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes following appeals from families who lost loved ones.

Ronan Maguire, Co Louth coroner, has “not ruled out holding an inquest where circumstances justified so doing”.

And he said: “There are currently some cases in which an inquest is being considered.”