LAST UPDATE | 6 Jun

AN “ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR” led to admissions at a Co Laois nursing home at the centre of an RTÉ investigates programme continuing for eight days despite the nursing homes regulator putting a stop to new arrivals in April of this year.

The programme, aired on Wednesday, highlighted poor treatment and practice within two privately-owned care homes in Co Dublin and Co Laois. 

Both care facilities – The Residence Portlaoise and Beneavin Manor in Glasnevin – are under the ownership of Emeis Ireland, formerly known as Orpea.

It was revealed this week that the nursing homes regulator HIQA (Health Information and Quality Authority) had stopped new admissions to The Residence in Portlaoise in April.

Emeis Ireland has this evening confirmed that admissions at the facility continued for eight extra days as a result of an “administrative error”.

The company, which has apologised for the scenes documented in the programme, reiterated its disappointment again.

“We reiterate our deep regret and disappointment in respect of the matters uncovered by the programme,” it said before apologising to the residents and families at Beneavin and The Residence.

The company said that both HIQA and the HSE have visited the facilities in the programme, and it is cooperating with the health authorities. It added that it is also conducting its own review of its 25 nursing homes nationwide.

The programme highlighted how understaffing at the facilities led to older people being in pain while waiting to go to the toilet, multiple residents suffering falls after being left on their own, staff moving people inappropriately when they should be using a hoist, and in one case, a man who asked to be taken to the toilet being told directly by a staff member to pee in his incontinence pad.

There were also multiple occasions documented on camera where staff were not adequately equipped with the right level of resources in order to deliver the best-possible care to residents at both facilities.

On-site audits at the nursing homes have been conducted on foot of the footage seeking to address the issues documented in the programme, Emeis Ireland said this evening.

A six-point corrective action plan has been implemented, the company said.

Emeis said the plan seeks to ensure the safety of residents, improve staff training and competence, address a culture of fear and poor reporting, improve communications with families and strengthen governance and oversight.

HIQA said it was “very concerned” over the “distressing” scenes in the RTÉ programme.

Asked about the footage today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said what was displayed at the homes was “horrific, shocking and absolutely unacceptable”. He called for a review of HIQA’s regulatory framework.

Martin said he has spoken with both minister for older people Kieran O’Donnell and health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill on the issue. He further remarked that the issue is “fundamentally about regulation” but added that HIQA is “well resourced”.

And while Martin said HIQA has been “effective and impactful in many areas”, he added that “there has to be an examination” because the “regulatory framework didn’t catch very horrific and shocking behaviour towards elderly people in nursing homes”.

Martin also said that there will now be a “full look” at all the homes under Emeis’s ownership.