There are issues that should be examined in the regulatory approach of the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) to ensure the welfare of elderly people in nursing homes, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
He was speaking in reaction to allegations of elder abuse and neglect in nursing homes Beneavin House, in Glasnevin, Dublin, and The Residence, Portlaoise, Co Laois, which were shown in an RTÉ Investigates programme aired Wednesday night.
Mr Martin described the content of the programme as “absolutely unacceptable” and said “there will have to be increased vigilance from the regulatory approach, and that is something that Government will be looking at”.
The documentary shared scenes of older people allegedly being “manhandled”, ignored when asking for help to go to the toilet, and “being left in incontinence pads for so long their clothes were soaked”.
Emeis Ireland, which operates both nursing homes at the centre of the scandal, has apologised “unequivocally to all residents and their families for the suffering and distress” caused.
Mr Martin said Government policy on safeguarding elders’ welfare “isn’t the issue”.
“It will be an additional help but fundamentally it’s behaviour on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
“It is how homes are operated and it’s the regulation then of that that ultimately will still have to be the first response, and the key, to situations like this.”
Hiqa is “effective and impactful in many areas”, however “the regulatory framework didn’t catch very horrific and shocking behaviour towards people in nursing homes. That has to be taken on board”, Mr Martin said.
There is “a lack of a clear ethos and ethical framework” in the governance and ownership of the nursing homes in question which impacts “respecting the dignity of every human being”, Mr Martin said.
He pledged “additional investment in public facilities into the future”, which he said “tend to deal with more acute patients”.
“We have invested very strongly in the public system, which people may not realise, through the refurbishment of existing community district hospitals across the country over the last four to five years,” he said.
A review of the 27 Emeis-owned nursing homes in the State was initiated Thursday morning after Minister of State with Responsibility for Older People Kieran O’Donnell met Hiqa representatives.
Safeguarding teams have since been brought in to Beneavin House and The Residence, Portlaoise, by the Health and Safety Authority, The Irish Times understands.
A demonstration has been planned for next week by Care Champions Ireland, an advocacy group for families with relatives in care facilities, outside Leinster House to “demand safeguarding legislation” and “reform all care provisions”.
[ What is Emeis and where are its Irish care homes located?Opens in new window ]
In a statement on Friday evening Emeis said the RTÉ footage was “both shocking and unacceptable and unquestionably equated to poor and abusive practice.
“Emeis Ireland has taken appropriate safeguarding actions in relation to residents and specific actions in relation to staff and a full organisational review is under way. These incidents were not representative of the professionalism and commitment of our employees in Ireland, nor of the everyday life in our facilities.”
