Tougher standards force Trim nursing home to close after 25 years

A well-known Trim nursing home is closing its doors this week because it says it can no longer meet the stringent new standards required. River View Nursing Home, formerly known as St Anthony's, will close on Friday and residents are all being moved to alternative nursing homes. The closure also means the the loss of 12 full-time jobs - just two of these employees have found new employment. The 14-bedroom nursing home has been operating on the Dublin Road, Trim, for 25 years. Proprieter Donna Quinn, who took over the home six years ago, said it was a very difficult decision to close but there was no way it would be possible for them to meet the new standards. She explained that the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) took over nursing home inspections from the HSE and she said the authority has very different standards which they cannot meet. While Ms Quinn said they are given five years to meet the standards, she said they do not have the room to do what HIQA want such as all having all single rooms and installing an elevator. She said they have no land to build on to extend the nursing home and, even if they had, it would be easier to knock down the premises and rebuild it than make the changes. Ms Quinn said River View is a "home away from home" for the residents but that the authorities are moving towards a more "clinical" type of nursing home. She said: "It is very sad. We are a home away from home but they are going away from that to bigger, more clinical nursing homes. It was a hard decision and a big decision to make. All the residents have been placed and are moving this week. It is very sad and upsetting for everyone but there is nothing we can do," she said. Ms Quinn said the staff, residents and families were very upset by the decision to close and that it had been a very emotional week. "One nurse has been working here for 20 years. One resident has been with us for 11 years and some have been here for four or five years and they are all very upset. It wasn't until we made the decision to close and spoke to the families that we got feedback on how upset everyone was that we are closing," added Ms Quinn. The nursing home proprietor said there was "no way possible that we could meet the new standards" and she has predicted that the owners of other older nursing homes may also decide to close for this reason.