Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the presence of the Minister for Health. I wish to speak about a report on the HIQA website on the inspection of homes for the elderly. I praise HIQA for the tremendous commitment and dedication of its staff who always work, as they must, within the law. In the year about which I am speaking, more than 500 individual investigations into various homes were conducted with regard to inspection reports. A serious legal anomaly has arisen, as more than 350 written or verbal complaints were received by HIQA relating to more than 213 homes, but none of them could be investigated directly by HIQA because the law does not allow it to do so. The list of issues raised in these complaints includes elder abuse, financial abuse, verbal, physical and sexual abuse of residents, dementia patients with fractured ribs, patients being unwashed, a 90 year old patient freezing cold, broken furniture and, specifically, reference is made to a number of deaths from septicaemia and at least seven other deaths. At present, HIQA cannot investigate these.

I will give a sample of some of the individual complaints. A resident died due to staff not being trained properly and poor quality of care. A doctor called did not visit the actual patient. Another doctor stated the patient had a slight chest infection, but on arrival at hospital the person had severe pneumonia and dehydration and died. Forms were updated in the office by three members of staff after the admission to hospital.

A male patient was calling for help with two bare legs over his bed rails. After ten minutes a staff member closed the door on him and did not help. The poor man died with unexplained marks on his hand.

In another home a resident suffering from Alzheimer's was not looked after properly. No verbal communication took place with her and she was not called by her name. Occasionally she was covered in excrement, on the toilet with a pillow behind her, weak and unable to sit up. She ate meals with excrement on her hands. Although she was vomiting and ill, no ambulance was called. A family member brought her to hospital where she subsequently died.

There are other issues involving unresolved elder abuse and a staff nurse resigned as a result. There has been intimidation of residents. Residents have been left on commodes for four hours or more. There are also cases of residents being scared and in fear. Complaints have not been listened to. Residents have been on commodes at 4.30 a.m. Dementia patients have been given breakfast on commodes.

Professor Des O'Neill, who inquired into the appalling abuse at Leas Cross, found deficient care at many levels.

There was an inadequate number of trained staff and he found that the charge of institutional abuse was proved against Leas Cross. He made two important recommendations - he made 11 in all. The minimum number of staff should be defined nationally and the nursing needs need to be assessed by a nursing needs assessment tool, with which I am sure the Minister is very familiar. On the question of nurses, nurses with qualification in gerontology were absolutely essential to ensure residents of homes were properly and well looked after.

In summary, the charge is that we have failed to change the law enough to allow HIQA to do the excellent job it wants to do. I understand from HIQA that a simple amendment to the Health Act 2007 would allow it to go in and challenge each of these individual complaints. That is the very least we can do to protect our elderly residents in these nursing homes for which they pay an absolute fortune.

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