Nursing home director rejects abuse allegations

A director at a south Dublin nursing home at the centre of abuse allegations today rejected the "unfounded" claims made against it.

Sarah Lipsett said the allegations of abuse at the Rostrevor nursing home in Rathgar were "unfounded and not true" during an interview broadcast on RTÉ radio.

Her comments come shortly after the owners of the  home failed in a court bid to stop the dispersal of residents from the facility following its takeover by the HSE last week.

Minister for Health Dr James Reilly this evening said the whistleblower who brought the allegations to light had done older people and the country "a great service".

Ms Lipsett, who is a director of the nursing home along with her sister Avila, said an elderly woman resident who was reported to have continually screamed when taken to the bathroom by a male care assistant at the centre of the complaints, had dementia and had been seen by a doctor who had confirmed there were no signs of abuse.

Another allegation concerning a male resident who was found to have bruising, was said by Ms Lipsett to have been "very aggressive and he needed to be restrained".

She said the allegations had never been reported to senior staff at the facility and that the first time the nursing home had heard of the complaints was during the inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority.

Ms Lipsett said the male care assistant at the centre of the allegations had refuted them. He is currently under suspension.

Ms Lipsett added that there had never been any issues with the care assistant concerned.

"Every relative has always said he's fantastic, he's wonderful. He's been here for four years and there's never been one complaint against him," she said.

Hiqa said in its report that there had been an "alarming history of falls, injuries and incidents” at the nursing home. However, Ms Lipsett said the levels of falls recorded at Rostrevor "was not unusually high compared to other nursing homes".

Ms Lipsett's mother, Therese, was also formerly a director of Kitelm Ltd, which operates the Rostrevor nursing home. However, she passed on the directorship to Sarah earlier this year.

Therese Lipsett, a nurse, was struck off the register last December after she was found guilty of professional misconduct in relation to a 2005 incident. She was fined €8,000 for 10 breaches in regulations relating to the care and welfare of residents at Rostrevor in 2005.

Sarah Lipsett said today the reason her mother had been struck off last year was because "she had put the need of the residents first" by not alerting the authorities when allegations were made against the home six years ago.

Ms Lipsett said none of the families of the 23 elderly residents still at Rostrevor had expressed any dissatisfaction with the running of the home.