DROGHEDA DISTRICT COURT has issued a closure order for a nursing home in Co Meath following an inspection which found that residents were at risk of developing hypothermia there.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) had sought an order to close the Creevelea House Nursing Home in Laytown following an inspection in November during which staff were ordered to give blankets and hot drinks to residents, such was the cold temperature at the time.

On that instance, the court had been told two weeks ago, even the staff at the facility had complained about the heating. The visit had coincided with a period of particularly cold weather.

During the same visit, an inspector was unable to learn when a frail 93-year-old patient had last eaten. The only fresh food she found in the kitchen during her visit was a single turnip.

The Drogheda Independent then reported how the court was told that the facility’s oven had broken down on Christmas Eve, forcing a chef there to cook Christmas dinner for the residents at home and then bring it into the home.

The facility’s owner Peter Murphy was due to give evidence when the case resumed at the court this morning, but the court was today told that Murphy was consenting to the order and the case was concluded.

A HIQA spokesman said the HSE would be in contact with the residents and their families to arrange their transfer to appropriate nearby accommodation.

Read: Residents in Meath nursing home were ‘at risk of hypothermia’, court told >

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