Review of all nursing homes operated by Emeis Ireland requested by Department of Health

Irish Times

a day ago

A review of all nursing homes operated by Emeis Ireland has been requested by the
Department of Health
.
Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Older People
Kieran O'Donnell
has asked the
Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)
to start the review of all nursing homes operated by the group in the wake of Wednesday's RTÉ Investigates programme.
Emeis Ireland runs 27 residential homes across the State, two of which were the subject of the broadcast, which detailed
alleged elder abuse and neglect
, scenes described by HIQA as 'wholly unacceptable and shocking'.
HIQA's Chief Inspector 'is taking escalated regulatory action in the nursing homes identified' and 'will take any necessary additional actions with the provider to ensure safe and effective care and support to all residents', a HIQA spokesperson said.
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HIQA ordered admissions to The Residence in Portlaoise, featured in the programme, to be ceased after the release of a report in February detailed areas of significant concern. This order came into effect in April.
The Residence featured alongside Beneavin Manor in Glasnevin, north Dublin, in the programme.
The broadcast included scenes of older people allegedly being manhandled, 'forced' down into chairs, being left in incontinence pads for so long their clothes were soaked, and being ignored when they pleaded for help to go to the toilet.
Emeis Ireland, previously known as Orpea, is the largest provider of private nursing home beds in the State.
The Residence, Portlaoise, was found to be non-compliant with 10 regulations following the February inspection.
It found staff were not appropriately trained to deliver effective and safe care and were not appropriately supervised, which was noted as being a repeated noncompliance.
While most centres can expect one or two inspections each year, Hiqa said it carries out more inspections at centres where there are concerns or where there is repeated noncompliance.
The Residence, Portlaoise, had three inspections last year and one in February.
Beneavin Manor was also among the 36 nursing homes to receive three or more inspections in response to persistent noncompliance.
Other enforcement steps available to Hiqa include cancelling the registration of a centre. However, it noted such action can cause 'significant upset and distress' to residents and their families.
Following 840 inspections in total last year, the authority either refused to renew registration or cancelled the registration of 10 nursing homes.
The Minister for Older People Kieran O'Donnell said he met Hiqa on Wednesday because of the 'urgency' of the situation exposed in the 'extremely distressing' RTÉ programme.
'Furthermore I've asked Hiqa to come back to me on the work they're doing in terms of the intensive engagement with the two nursing homes over the next week. And I've asked them to do an overview of the Emeis group itself in terms of all the nursing homes, in terms of the regulation and enforcement process,' he said.
The Minister said he wanted to see inspections happening more frequently and faster responses to protected disclosures.
The former general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, Liam Doran, said he felt shame, anger and frustration at the scenes in the programme.
'And then I think sadness, just sadness at looking at people who have served this country, have worked for this country and have shown fortitude, much more than the modern generation and that's how we treat them. Shame, shame on all of us.'
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke said on RTÉ's Claire Byrne Show: 'If people are not being cared for appropriately, with dignity, with respect, in an institution, well then that institution should not be operating.
'Hiqa need to really enforce that and to ensure that everyone has a basic level of dignity and care that they deserve in their twilight years.'
The chairperson of Safeguarding Ireland, Patricia Rickard-Clarke has repeated a call on the Government to establish of an interdepartmental interagency working group to implement the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission's report from April 2024. This set out policy changes that needed to be made to implement safeguarding legislation.
'I am very disturbed and very distressed and very, very angry about this,' she told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland.
'We're 20 years after Leas Cross. We have gone backwards, I think,' she said, referring to the 2005 closure of the Dublin nursing home after revelations about the mistreatment of patients.l
She said that Hiqa has questions to answer, but 'one of the limitations it has is that it doesn't have the function of taking individual complaints or concerns. It looks at systemic issues, and it goes in on an irregular basis, and also there was a delay in responding to a particular request (by a whistleblower)'.
The CEO of The Alliance, a trade association for the nursing home sector in Ireland, Shane Scanlan, said he was 'utterly shocked and appalled' by the RTÉ exposé.
'As a nurse myself and the director of nursing for over 10 years, you just really feel for the residents and families that have been affected by this,' he told Newstalk Breakfast.
'I'd be calling for an immediate, independent, root and branch review of how Hiqa carries out their inspections and their methodology,' he said.
Sean Moynihan of Alone has said that Ireland was 'walking into the privatisation of nursing homes' where economics seemed to be more important than the actual rights of the older person and the healthcare of older people.
Speaking on RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland, Mr Moynihan said the RTÉ exposé had been a 'very visible shock' of how older people are treated.