Relatives of the 92 residents at Leas Cross nursing home yesterday expressed concern for the health of their family members if they are forced to move from the nursing home.
They said the first they knew of plans to move their family members was when the HSE announced it through the media on Monday afternoon.
Yesterday evening, one resident, Hilary Tighe (63), from Malahide, said that despite being brought by taxi to visit another nursing home at around 3.30 pm, he planned to "stay where I am, which is Leas Cross".
"I feel I'm being made to move," he said. "I am happy in Leas Cross." But other relatives of residents at the home said they feared Mr Tighe would be moved "discreetly" to another nursing home once they left. Mr Tighe has been a resident at Leas Cross for between six and eight months.
Earlier, Anna Grace, whose 75-year-old mother Monica is a resident at Leas Cross, said she was very unhappy with the treatment her family had received from the HSE. Ms Grace's mother is one of the 24 public patients due to be moved by the HSE in the coming weeks.
"One of my main concerns is the lack of contact the HSE has had with the families. They have made decisions about them over our heads," she said. "My concern is for the health of my mother. . . I see my mother who is happy and contented. It is not in the best interests of my mother's health to move her anywhere else."
Patricia Connolly, whose mother Anne Hanlon has been a resident of Leas Cross for the past three years, said she had "absolutely no problem at all" with the care her mother had received. "There has been no communication with the families, she said. "But it's my mother that they are dealing with." Ms Connolly's son, Paul, added that he was worried that his grandmother may not survive the trauma of being forced to move from the home. "We're the ones on the ground who see it on a daily basis," he said. "We'd be the ones leading the charge if anything was wrong here . . . we have to speak on their behalf."
His aunt, Lucy Clifford, said she had been at the nursing home at night-time, and that no HSE staff were present.
"My mother has been here three years, and there hasn't been one phone call or one visit from the health board," she said. "They're using [ Leas Cross] as an example."
However, some callers to RTÉ Radio's Liveline programme yesterday pointed out that while the level of general care was acceptable at Leas Cross, the quality of the specialised medical care offered by the nursing home was questionable.
John Lowry, whose mother died at Leas Cross in April, wanted to know why there was a particularly high rate of deaths at the nursing home in one year. Another caller, Leah Grant, also said she was unable to get proper medical intervention for her father, Dick Walsh, who died in April 2003.