HIQA in bid to strike Laytown nursing home from register

A district court judge this week heard a list of concerns about a nursing home in east Meath, including that there were 19 falls by residents over a six-week period, that the heating was not working properly, putting some residents on the "verge" of being at risk of hypothermia, and that it had been broken into three times. The court also heard the home "was not clean," and there was not an adequate stock of food; the fresh vegetables consisted of one bag of potatoes and a turnip. There was no meat, Drogheda Court was told on Monday. The evidence was given by an inspector with Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) during an application relating to Creevelea House Ltd, which is the registered operator of Creevelea House Nursing Home in Laytown. HIQA is asking the court to cancel its registration as a nursing home. The application is being opposed by Peter Murphy, director of the company and the registered provider of the home. The authority said it has "serious concerns" about the health and welfare of residents at the home. These relate to lack of governance, clinical management, lack of staff training and that there is no person in charge, as required by regulation. In lengthy evidence covering a number of inspections of the home, HIQA inspector Nuala Rafferty said the first inspection took place in March last year after the niece of a resident got in touch with the authority because of concerns she had about his care. Ms Rafferty said that when the inspectors arrived, they found "nobody running" the home and "nobody overseeing the management of residents". Peter Murphy, director of Creevelea House Ltd, lived in Limerick and she said there was no emergency plan in place to guide staff on what to do if there was any difficulty. A staff nurse who worked 24 hours a week was the person that other staff contacted if there was a problem, even if she was not working, the court heard. Ms Rafferty said that inspectors met with Peter Murphy and issued him with an emergency action plan. She said he did not seem to be aware of the level of concerns they had and felt that the inspectors were creating problems for him and he felt bullied and intimidated. He also indicated he would prefer to talk to a senior management person in HIQA. The court heard of concerns for a 93 year-old woman who potentially who had not eaten for 24 hours, there was no nutritional plan for her and she had not been weighed. Another resident, who is 66, was not having his diabetes monitored properly and, although he had a history of falls, he was not adequately supervised. At the time of the first inspection there were seven residents that the inspectors had specific concerns about. The court heard there had been 19 falls over a six-week period. One was a woman who fractured her hip. A person in charge was appointed last year but she resigned in December because she felt she was not getting the support she needed, the court heard. Ms Rafferty outlined how, on 20th November last year at the start of the bad cold spell, as she carried out a follow up inspection, "staff complained of being cold." The inspectors found only four bedrooms were warm, the rest were "very cold," and all the communal rooms were also "very cold". They returned the following morning and said seven residents had temperatures below 36 degrees and were "now verging at risk of hypothermia", the court heard. The heating was not left on for long enough for it to reach an optimum level and to stay at it, it was claimed. The inspectors directed staff to give out warm drinks and extra blankets. Judge Flann Brennan also heard that two of the four fuse boards didn't meet current electrical safety standards. There had been three break-ins, one during which a resident heard somebody in a bathroom a short distance from her bedroom. She believed it was another resident who had got locked in and she began to call out to him. When staff arrived, they found the window inside the bathroom had been broken and somebody had broken in. The next morning, a hacksaw was found outside and a shed in the grounds had been broken into. There was no CCTV at the time but it is in place now and there are alarms on the windows. Reports of two recent visits by HIQA were given to the legal representative for the nursing home in court on Monday and the hearing will continue in two weeks' time. Peter Murphy is expected to give evidence on the next date.