An Ombudsman report published today found there were “serious inadequacies” in the care given to an elderly woman in her late eighties who was admitted to a HSE nursing home in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
Presenting the report into the care and treatment of the woman in St Mary's Care Centre, Mullingar, Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly said this was of an unacceptable standard.
A complaint about the treatment of the woman, who had been physically and mentally incapacitated due to a stroke, was lodged by her daughter to the Ombudsman in April 2006.. The patient had been admitted for care in December 2005.
In a statement today, the Ombudsman said an investigation “found a series of communications and other failures on the part of the nursing home and its professional staff which had serious negative consequences for the elderly patient and her family.
“The level of care was so unsatisfactory that the patient's family took their mother home from the nursing home after three days. My investigation concludes that these failures in patient care contributed, amongst other things, to the patient developing pressure sores and blisters which proved troublesome and difficult to treat.”
The statement continued: “When the patient's daughter complained about these failures in care, there were significant shortcomings in the HSE's handling of the complaint. Indeed, these shortcomings added to the daughter's sense of grievance and compounded the shortcomings in the level of care provided.”
Ms O’Reilly said there were lessons to be learned from a failure to provide appropriate care in feeding and ensuring adequate hydration for the patient. She said the complainant had placed her trust in the system that her mother would be cared for to the same standard that she was cared for at home.
“Very regrettably, the care received was far from what she could reasonably have expected. My investigation showed that the nursing home failed to ensure that even the patient's most basic needs were catered for, including being adequately fed and hydrated," the report said.
However, the Ombudsman commended the HSE for acknowledging the deficiencies and committing to implementing the report’s recommendations in full. She added many of these had been addressed already.
Among its recommendations, the report called for written protocols on the referral of patients for all para-medical services, a revision of protocols for the admission of a patient for respite care, and education and training programmes for staff.
The Ombudsman also said all nursing staff should ensure the wishes of residents and their relatives are documented, listened to and acted on, and that carers/relatives are kept informed on their relatives' condition.
