Mountmellick nursing home ‘proven to be the best model’ following ‘glowing’ HIQA report amid ongoing Portlaoise scandal

St Vincent’s Hospital Mountmellick has received a “glowing” report from HIQA following an unannounced recent inspection, with the evidence being used by a Laois TD to call for more publicly owned nursing homes across Ireland.

The news comes just weeks after an exposé from ‘RTÉ Investigates’ that uncovered “multiple examples of care failings and neglect of vulnerable older residents” at The Residence, Portlaoise, and Beneavin Manor, Glasnevin, two nursing homes run by Emeis Ireland.

Following the programme, HIQA (Health Information and Quality Authority) said that the practices uncovered were “wholly unacceptable and shocking.”

Undercover RTÉ reporters exposed neglect including incidents where residents were allowed to fall from chairs, wet themselves, moved about incorrectly and in a rough manner, and left in bed all day, as well as various incidents of staffing and equipment shortages left to residents being left neglected.

Laois Independent Republican TD Brian Stanley raised the matter in the Dáil this week and cited the recent positive report from Mountmellick as a sign that that changes should be implemented in the sector.

Deputy Stanley described the recent HIQA report on St Vincent’s Hospital as “glowing”, saying it shows that more nursing homes need to be taken out of the private sector and instead become publicly owned like the Mountmellick facility, which he said “has proven to be the best model.”

The report into St Vincent’s showed only “minor” issues with a largely positive review that included reports of resident satisfaction.

“One resident told HIQA that there were so many activities that they had not time to get bored, and that people were very happy and content,” Deputy Stanley said.

This is in stark contrast to the report emanating from The Residence, Portlaoise, with Deputy Stanley saying, “Unfortunately, some in the sector will abuse their position” and described the “incidents of neglect and abuse” as “terrifying.”

The Laois TD said the “over-reliance” on private nursing homes has increased with “80% of nursing homes are now private” which he said has left Ireland “at the mercy” of the private sector.

Addressing the “major issues” at The Residence, Deputy Stanley said: “Despite the improvement plans and commitments given to both HIQA and the families, particularly regarding the residents in Portlaoise, they were not followed through on.

“(Emeis Ireland) breached the admission ban and continued to admit people after February even though it was told by HIQA not to.

“I welcome the fact the issues at The Residence have been referred to An Garda Síochána. In this regard, HIQA has questions to answer.

“Whistle-blowers’ complaints were not acted on for two years. Not until we saw the RTÉ exposé did we start to become acquainted with these issues.

“There were 40 notifications of alleged abuse to HIQA in 18 months. What happened with those 40 notifications? What action was taken on them? There seems to have been very little.

“There was a five-month gap between some of the inspections in The Residence despite many problems piling up. There was no action taken on that.

“It is clear that improvement plans agreed with HIQA and the HSE were not acted on. That is simply not good enough while we are depending on these nursing homes.

“I met HIQA representatives on the issue of possible penalties. HIQA can halt admissions, prosecute and deregister, and it has a complaints system. Ultimately, cases can be filed with An Garda Síochána, as has happened in this case.”

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