The Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has called for urgent enacting of Safeguarding Legislation aimed at protecting people in nursing homes.
Speaking in light of the RTE Investigates documentary this week, Deputy Tóibín said:
“During the pandemic people in nursing homes were left the most exposed and were seriously neglected by the government. At the time I raised the case of Mary Bartley Meehan from my constituency whose husband Ultan, a dementia patient, died after being moved from Kilbrew Nursing Home where he had infected cancerous wounds on his face which had become infested with maggots after repeated scratching, due to the failure to clip his fingernails. In recent weeks TDs were given a presentation by Care Champions where we were presented with quotations from families who lost loved ones in nursing homes during the pandemic. It was the stuff of the nightmares. According to figures released to Aontú, a third of all Covid death in Ireland occurred in nursing homes”.
Deputy Tóibín continued: “The findings of RTE Investigates are extremely distressing. Old people left lying in urine, being pushed and pulled around by their clothes. Across the board the number of nursing home patients appears to be rising, but not the number of staff. Some of the residents were at high risk of malnutrition and did not have access to medical professionals. In some cases there was only one staff for every nine residents which presented a serious challenge if one resident required the bathroom, the other eight would have to be left alone. Cases of residents falling, and being lifted by their clothes, residents left in pain ringing the assistance bell for up to twenty-five minutes. This is abuse, it is neglect, and it cannot be tolerated”.
“These are primarily older people who have worked hard all their lives and paid their taxes. Their human rights are being completely breached in some of these settings. We in Aontú are calling for the safeguarding legislation – which has been drafted by the opposition – to be enacted as a matter of urgency. We need ‘mandatory reporting’ like we have in settings caring for children where caregivers are legally mandated to report concerns of abuse or neglect. The same must apply for older or vulnerable adults. We need to ensure that residents of nursing homes are never deprived of access to their family members, and that a blanket or total restriction on visitors is never tolerated. We need a full investigation into the State’s handling of Covid-19 in nursing homes. Aontú will be raising these issues in the Dáil when it returns next week”, concluded Tóibín.
CRIOCH
087 270 7985
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For Written Answer on : 09/07/2024
Question Number(s): 701 Question Reference(s): 29240/24
Department: Health
Asked by: Peadar Tóibín T.D.
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QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons who have instigated legal action against the HSE over the death of their loved ones from covid-19 in HSE-run nursing homes or hospitals; the number of cases which are ongoing; the number which have been settled; and the total amount paid out in compensation to date.
REPLY
The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of State Authorities including the Health Service Executive. The SCA has provided me with the information set out below and has informed me that the information contained within this report was extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and is correct as at the 02/07/2024.
The SCA has received 73 wrongful death claims, in respect of COVID-19, recorded across hospitals, nursing homes, HSE locations including community healthcare locations, COVID-19 vaccine programme locations and HIQA. Of these, 18 claims have been finalised and no damages have been paid in any of these claims to date. Mulitple claims may arise in respect of a single wrongful death.
