The State's health standards watchdog has closed a nursing home in Co Kilkenny due to serious concerns over the well-being of its residents.
The Health Information and Quality Authority secured an interim order from Carlow District Court last night cancelling the registration of Avondale Nursing Home in Callan, Co Kilkenny. The Health Service Executive has been directed to take charge of the home while alternative care arrangements are sought for the 12 elderly residents at the home.
In 2005 an 81-year-old MRSA sufferer died just weeks after he suffered a severe burn from a radiator in the nursing home. Henry Pollard, of Rathvilly, Co Carlow, was left by a hot radiator inside the Avondale Nursing Home in Callan, Co Kilkenny, on the night and morning of May 23rd and May 24th, 2005
He had been strapped into a chair and left beside the radiator while under sedation, a subsequent inquest was told.
Dr Myra Cullinane, the Cork Coroner, recorded a verdict of death by natural causes but recommended that patients who were confused and disabled should not be left next to an unguarded radiator.