Transfer of residents at Athlone care centre causes distress

Electrical problems

have prompted the HSE to begin

relocating

35 residents of

St Vincent's Community Care Centre in Athlone

, Co Westmeath.

The move has caused distress to some family members who were informed of the situation on Tuesday night and yesterday morning.

The HSE has said the centre will need an electrical upgrade due to fire and other risks. In the intervening five or six months residents are to be accommodated in Offaly, Longford and locally where possible.

Some family members gathered outside the centre yesterday as ambulances waited to move residents. A tearful Karen Duffy, whose 84 year-old father John Duffy has been in the centre for over a year, said she only learned of the move yesterday morning. She does not drive, and is concerned about being able to visit her father.

“How do you know my father has six months? I want to be there when my father dies, is that too much to ask?”

She said her father, like many other residents, was refusing to leave Athlone.

Karen’s cousin Ann Mellett, whose 80 year-old father Stephen McManus has been in the centre for three years, is also refusing to move her father from Athlone.

Cattle

“They are being moved like cattle. I mean, you get a phone call last night to be told they are being moved and they are just moving them.”

While clearly angry about the situation, Ms Mellett said “the staff are outstanding, I have to say that”.

Local Independent Alliance TD Kevin "Boxer" Moran described his Athlone constituency office as "absolute mayhem" since word filtered out. He said Minister for Health Simon Harris had assured him the closure was temporary. He said "HIQA are not involved" but had been informed of the situation.

Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Helen McEntee has asked officials from her department to maintain close contact with the HSE during the transfer of patients. Ms McEntee said she has been assured the move was a temporary measure, and the necessary mitigating actions were being taken, including the deployment of extra staff for the duration of the transfer.

Electrical equipment

The HSE said that following an electrical report highlighting a number of risks, including fire and power outages leading to services failures affecting lighting, heating and all electrical equipment, it was deemed necessary to transfer the residents to alternative accommodation on a phased basis over two or three days. Extra staff were being deployed during the transfer, and a residents’ advocate was in attendance at the unit.

The HSE statement said: “The HSE wishes to confirm its commitment to long-stay beds in Athlone through the reopening of St Vincent’s as soon as possible and in the medium-term the opening of the dedicated 50-bed unit on the Clonbrusk site.”