Upset and anger as first resident moves from nursing home scheduled for closure

A vigil held earlier this month as part of the campaign to prevent the closure of Cara House.Photo: Damian Coleman

Staff at a Cork nursing home which is set to close in January have experienced heartbreak this week as they saw their first resident reluctantly leave her "home away from home."

Cara House in Blackpool on the northside of Cork city opened over 30 years ago to meet the needs of the elderly in the community following the closure of the North Infirmary Hospital.

The board of management announced plans to shut the doors of the 25 bed facility last month. They attributed their decision to a reduction in occupancy at the facility and the challenges posed by Covid-19.

Calls were made for the HSE to take over the running of the site and vigils were being held every Wednesday night outside the facility. Staff member Majella Lynch said that arising out of the new restrictions they have had no choice but to cancel their weekly vigils.

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"We do have a stay until January but that is only a HIQA requirement," she said. "We have met with the board but there is nothing positive. It is daunting for people. They are afraid of what is going to happen.

"One woman left on Tuesday and she said it was her second time leaving her home. That she had left her own home and then her home here. We have set up an online petition and are asking people to sign."

Majella said that Mount Cara would be a devastating loss to the community.

"At the start of lockdown we had a resident with a temperature but no other signs of Covid," she said.

"We cordoned off the corridor. We took all the precautions. Did all the staff and patient testing. When she got her results back she was positive but made a full recovery.

"Why would you move people from a safe environment in the middle of a pandemic to larger nursing homes where they may not be as safe?"

Meanwhile, Mary Lynch, daughter of 100-year-old Cara House resident Nora Murphy, has described the idea of moving her mother to a different nursing home in the midst of a pandemic as "madness."

"I can't bear the idea of my mother being scared and I know she will be. If I am going to put her in a new home she is going to be terrified. This is going to affect her so much."

Fred Richmond, whose 98-year-old father, Fred, is a resident at Cara House, said that he will be devastated if the facility closes.

"They are proposing to remove him from that safe environment to a place where he knows no one," he said. "It’s a complete reversal of what we’ve been told we should do."

Thomas Gould, Sinn Fein TD for Cork-North Central, is calling for the HSE to intervene and to take over the facility.

The home currently has 14 residents. Staff maintain that the finances onsite are in good shape. The facility was recently in receipt of a positive HIQA report.

In a statement the Management Board said the decision to close was not made lightly.

"The Board is in discussion with the HSE about the future placements of residents," it said.

"Any move to a new setting will take place over the next few months, and in consultation with residents."

Local Community activist Paddy O'Brien said the shortage of nursing homes nationwide is now so acute that families search death notices to ascertain if any deaths have occurred in facilities.