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Government Had Long Knowledge of Nursing Home Conditions - Fine Gael
Read more about: Fine Gael, Health, Progressive Democrats
From their press office (as I am waiting for today’s Dail proceedings to come online). Fine Gael’s Fergus O’Dowd read a special Health Board report from 2004 into the Dail record today which appears to suggest that Mary Harney had some measure of awareness of the conditions which old people were enduring in some of the state’s nursing homes (”This report was delivered to the Minister’s Department in the same month as the current Minister, Mary Harney, assumed her position.”). Below the fold is some of the release and I will update with the Dail proceedings when I get them.
If a report was delivered to the Department and there is proof of it, then Harney is herself implicated in the standard of care saga which has up until now been blamed on previous incumbents. As the top of the administrative tree, a report like this needs to land on her desk.
Response on News at One by Mary Harney, the consultant was hired by Health Board and therefore they knew and wanted to deal with it. New owners in place now. Still a difficult issue, did O’Dowd overstate his case.
“In the course of my enquiries on nursing home standards I have uncovered a Health Board enquiry report into a Cork nursing home which showed such complaints as:
- Patient’s clothes were missing and were worn by other residents
- Patient was transferred to hospital but family not informed
- Patient on admission to hospital had pressure sores which were not dressed, bruising on skin, dehydration, a chest infection and was unable to speak
- Patient walked out of front door of nursing home and staff did not notice that she had left“The report concluded that the home in question was in breach of no less than 20 regulations or codes and it recommended that ‘ill old people should not be referred to this nursing home.’
“Most importantly, the report recommended that in respect of the inspection of all nursing homes current nursing home regulations should be reviewed in their entirety.
“This report was delivered to the Minister’s Department in the same month as the current Minister, Mary Harney, assumed her position. In the interim because of my efforts, constant pressure from Fine Gael and a Prime Time expose, Leas Cross, Bedford House and series of dreadful incidents in nursing homes have been exposed.”
Very difficult to know, is the answer to your last question. The key thing is the reporting link between the Health Boards and herself.
Well he’s not shy about taking the credit for exposing the nursing home scandals (and to be fair he was a lonely voice there for a while). Perhaps if he had been louder in blowing his own trumpet prior to this Kenny wouldn’t have parachuted McGuinness in to take his seat.
That’s it mick, whatever you say make sure you take the focus off Harney.
I’m only trying to provide some balance. They’re all a crowd of useless tossers and that includes your beloved rainbow.
mick, you must be mistaken - my beloved is the Palace!
The nursing homes are all owned by Fianna Fail developoers and businessmen so why would there be any urgency to investigate them or impose proper standards.’Its part of their public-private partnership system.! public money for private partners (of the Party).