Health minister to face questions over deaths at Cork nursing home 

A group of five families have written to Stephen Donnelly requesting an investigation into the nursing home. Hiqa inspected the home on February 9.

Health minister Stephen Donnelly offered condolences to those who lost loved ones in the Co Cork nursing home. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

The search for answers for those whose loved ones died during a Covid-19 outbreak at the Ballynoe Nursing Home in Co Cork continues, with questions now to be asked of the health minister.

Cork North-Central TD Mick Barry will today demand that Stephen Donnelly order an inquiry into what happened.

He is also expected to be critical of CareChoice, the firm which runs the Upper Glanmire home.

"There are big questions to be answered as to what happened in Ballynoe,” he said.

The Taoiseach will need to explain to the Dáil as to how those questions are going to be answered.

“The relatives have important stories to tell and their voices are going to have to be heard in any investigation that takes place now."

Families seek answers

A group of five families has so far joined forces, determined to find out how and why the outbreak happened.

All five families have issues with how they or their loved ones were treated at the 51-bed home after Covid-19 entered around mid-January. They are being represented by legal firm PA Duffy.

They have written to health minister Stephen Donnelly, requesting an investigation. However, such an enquiry is not likely to be considered until at least after the publication of a report by health watchdog Hiqa into an inspection carried out at the home on February 9. 

Mr Donnelly told the Irish Examiner: “I would like to express my condolences to those who have lost a loved one during this period, including in the nursing home in question.

I am aware of the reports of the issues in relation to the outbreak in this nursing home.

Mr Donnelly also said he has been assured the HSE and Hiqa have 'engaged regularly' with the nursing home and that the chief inspector will publish the findings of the February 9 inspection "in due course".

'Forced to seek legal advice'

Teresa Mulcahy, whose mother Margaret Kelleher died in the home after contracting Covid, said she feels the lack of options open to relatives like her has forced them to seek legal advice.

“We feel we are being forced down an adversarial route in an attempt to get an investigation,” she said.

“There appear to be very few options open to us to make sure we all find out what happened and why.

“If we don’t know how the outbreak happened, we won’t be able to stop it happening again.

“At the end of the day, this could happen again tomorrow elsewhere, and we owe it not just to our parents but also other people who rely on nursing homes to get answers.” 

Last Saturday's edition carried an extensive report on up to 25 deaths at the Ballynoe Nursing Home in Cork. While Covid-19 was linked to the deaths in many of the cases, it was not the cause of death in all of the cases and not all families of the deceased are seeking an inquiry into the outbreak at the home.