Little Sisters of the Poor to cease running Dublin nursing home 

Family members who did not wish to be named told the 'Irish Examiner' of their concern for their loved ones now that the Little Sisters of the Poor will cease running Sacred Heart Residence in Raheny. Picture: iStock

An order of nuns that has been involved in care of the elderly for more than 150 years is pulling out of a nursing home in Dublin due to a lack of vocations and “the rising ages” of their nuns.

The Little Sisters of the Poor announced their decision at a meeting with families of the residents at their unit in Raheny in north Dublin on Wednesday afternoon.

During the meeting, families were told there were fewer Little Sisters present in the units in the past year and that the order “recognised the need to withdraw from a certain number of homes” due to the challenges they were facing.

The nursing home and assisted living unit in Sybil Hill Rd currently has 75 residents who have been living there for between one and ten years.

In the minutes circulated and seen by the Irish Examiner, the order said: “It is with deep regret that, after much prayer and reflection, it has been decided that the Little Sisters will be withdrawing from Sacred Heart Residence.”

Sr Anthony Francis said their plans and hopes are to see:

• Sacred Heart Residence remains as a nursing home; 
• All residents and independent living to remain in their homes; 
• All staff posts protected.  

She said the Little Sisters of the Poor has run its service in Raheny since the 1970s and “we would be failing in our duty of care to the elderly, if we like all organisations did not have succession plans in place. She said:

With this in mind we are making plans for the little Sisters to withdraw from Raheny and for a different organisation to take over.

One family member for each resident was in attendance and told that the order “will try to find an organisation with similar aims to ourselves from the charity or public sector service”.

The Little Sisters of the Poor have two other units in Ireland including Dublin Holy Family in Roebuck and St  Josephs in Waterford.

The order has made similar announcements at units in the US and UK recently.

Families were told on Wednesday “we will give priority to any requests to transfer to our other two Irish homes”, while “staff posts will be transferred to the eventual owners under a legal framework that ensures the same contractual terms”.

Group HR Director Janet Melbourne was also in attendance to help “answer any questions” for staff.

Sr Antony Francis continued “The next few months will be a busy time with surveys and lawyers exploring all the options. She said: 

This news will of course come as a shock to all concerned. The Sisters too are feeling it very much having to give you this new is heartbreaking for us.

Following the meeting two, families told the Irish Examiner they are “deeply concerned” for their loved ones.

One who did not wish to be named said “I am worried sick about my aunt who has dementia and mobility issues and just moved into the home a year ago from Curam in order to be near her only living relative in Dublin, and for whom another move to another care home would be potentially life-threatening”.

Another said: “Our concern is we have a family member in the nursing home who may be asked to leave it.

There are families there from between one and ten years, some are institutionalised, so this is a worry for families. It is also a really good facility with a lot of equipment you would not find elsewhere. That’s a worry too.

“Also, the nursing home has been part of the community for 50 years and a provides a service to the greater area, it’s a great loss, and we would like a nursing home to continue to be there.

“It provides a very good standard of care."

“We were assured that they would look for a provider to take over, but that is not a guarantee. We are understandably anxious.”