Whistleblower ‘disappointed’ report into nursing home Covid-19 outbreak won’t be published

A decision by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to not publish a report into alleged failings in one of its nursing homes during a major Covid-19 outbreak has been criticised by the whistleblower whose complaint launched the review.

St Mary’s Hospital nursing home in Phoenix Park was one of the worst hit in the first wave of the pandemic, with 24 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths among residents during an outbreak in 2020.

The HSE commissioned an independent investigation into claims made by a staff member in the facility about access to personal protective equipment (PPE), lack of testing for staff and other alleged failings.

In a letter dated February 22nd, Yvonne O’Neill, HSE national director for community operations, said the health service intended to publish an executive summary of the independent report next week, but not the full report.

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Ms O’Neill said the terms of reference of the inquiry “do not necessitate the publication” of the full report.

The senior official said the HSE “intends on publishing an executive summary of the final report also provided by the investigation team, which protects the identities of individuals insofar as possible”.

The investigation was undertaken by Gerry Rooney, managing director of Co Dublin-based mediation and dispute resolution company Acrux Consulting. The full report is believed to run to more than 500 pages.

The work was commissioned after a protected disclosure was made to the HSE in May 2020 about alleged shortcomings during the outbreak by Margo Hannon, who had worked in the nursing home as a health care assistant at the time.

The whistleblower’s complaint alleged there had been a series of shortcomings in response to the outbreak, which occurred in late March 2020.

Ms Hannon, who no longer works for the HSE, said she was “beyond disappointed” the full report would not be published.

“I feel it is disgraceful and insulting not only to me the discloser but also to all the older residents and their families who were affected,” she told The Irish Times.

Ms Hannon said the length of time the investigation had taken meant an “opportunity had been missed” to prevent shortcomings being repeated in outbreaks of the virus in other nursing homes during subsequent Covid-19 waves.

The former HSE employee said she had been assured by the investigator that her voice and the voices of families of residents would be heard.

“By not publishing the full report, I feel it is a punch in the stomach. I feel physically sick at what I have sacrificed on a personal and professional level to get to this stage and not have the full report published,” she said.

St Mary’s is a HSE-run facility with 150 nursing home beds and a separate 48-bed step-down hospital.