NURSING home group Emeis Ireland is under the spotlight following shocking revelations this week on an RTE Prime Time Investigates programme.
It exposed multiple failings at Residence Portlaoise and Beneavin Manor.
The Health and Information Quality Authority (HIQA) is now reviewing all EMEIS homes, but it is a terrible indictment of the industry and not the first time abuse has been uncovered in centres for elderly people.
EMEIS has apologised and said the findings were “deeply distressing, wholly unjustifiable, and entirely unacceptable”. It has also launched a review.
The HIQA investigation will hopefully unvcover the extent of the abuse but it is clear a lot needs to change.
Older people should be treated with dignity and respect in their later years and their families ought to be satisfied that their loved ones are being well looked after.
Here Sinn Fein’s spokesperson for older people and carers, NATASHA NEWSOME DRENNAN, explains why a lack of safeguarding protection for adults is to blame for failures within our care system…
IRELAND’S older people deserve dignity – and the highest-quality care.
What we have witnessed in the Prime Time Investigates programme is truly shocking.
But sadly, this is not the first time we have seen scandals in the care sector. We have had the Emily Case, Brandan Case, Grace Case, Áras Attracta and many more.
For over a decade, professional bodies, experts and advocates have pointed to weak regulation, failures in standards and an absence of safeguarding, all on the watch of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
This programme points to the need for better regulation of nursing homes and the need for adult safeguarding legislation. The Irish Association of Social Workers has demanded this for years, as has Sinn Fein.
We need mandatory reporting of abuse and neglect, and a legal right of entry for social care teams to investigate individual complaints.
BROKEN PROMISE
Sinn Fein is committed to empowering older people to live independently, building a health service that cares for us as we age.
We have advocated for a comprehensive social care policy to support independent living for people and groups with identified additional needs, including targeted funding to tackle loneliness and isolation, particularly among older people and people living alone.
People deserve to live in their own homes for as long as they can. We have long advocated for a “home first” approach to care.
But waiting lists for home support are growing and the promised statutory home-care scheme never materialised.
Another broken promise by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
The State should support older people to “age in place”, through home support and adaptation grants. Long-term residential care should be available for those who want or need it, but it should not be the default option.
Long-term residential care will, however, always be the appropriate care setting for some. Our ambition must be to provide assessable, afford-able, safe and quality care.
REALISTIC PROPOSALS
Sinn Fein has set out realistic, deliverable proposals to improve access to care for all our citizens.
We proposed to mandate the Commission on Care to future-proof the model of care for aging. We would support family carers, as outlined in our Charter for Carers, and invest in day services for older people.
We would also support specific programmes for those with dementia, Parkinson’s, MS, motor neurone disease, and other progressive disorders, which recognise the complexity of care and dignity of the individual.
We also point to weaknesses in regulation which have led to a failure in standards in some care settings, and instances of neglect and abuse. This is intolerable — and it is a scandal that this Government has failed to act on professional advice.
Sinn Fein would urgently enact adult safeguarding legislation.
This would provide a legal framework to support safeguarding, additional power for social workers and relevant social care professionals — and an agency, separate from the HSE, which is empowered to oversee safeguarding policy and practice across the public and private sector and in the home.
We would legislate to provide a legal right of entry to any designated care centre for relevant social workers and social care professionals.
We would also legislate for a care partner scheme similar to that which operates in the north of Ireland.
WAKE-UP CALL
This scheme was highly successful at reducing isolation and improving health outcomes during the pandemic.
It gives a right to a family or friends acting as care partners to combat isolation and, during public health emergencies, assist in care-giving in residential facilities.
HIQA regulation is not enough. We cannot dismiss abuse or neglect or adopt an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach. Our elderly citizens deserve to receive the highest quality of care and to be kept safe from harm.
We also need to invest in public nursing home capacity.
Over 70 per cent of nursing home capacity is now private. But privatisation of nursing home care is wrong.
We need to tip the balance back in favour of public capacity, with robust regulations and appropriate safeguarding.
It is the duty of any Government to keep all citizens safe and protected from harm.
The Prime Time program is another wake-up call.
We can no longer accept or tolerate sub-standard care or abuse and neglect of our elderly citizens.
They deserve so much better.
