Maura Reynolds's daughter-in-law is bitter at the HSE's reaction, writes Alison Healy
For several days last Christmas, the face of Maura Reynolds looked out from television screens as a massive land and sea search tried to locate the missing 78-year-old.
The petite Donegal-born grandmother, who lived in Balally Drive, Sandyford, Dublin, had been a resident at Tara Nursing Home in Bray, Co Wicklow, for 18 months before her disappearance. She was a popular figure and had been a tireless volunteer with Leopardstown Hospital and the St Vincent de Paul before she became ill with breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
Her family tried to care for her as long as possible, but when her decline accelerated and they could no longer provide the intensive 24-hour care she needed, it was agreed she would go to Tara Nursing Home.
Before she disappeared she had spent Christmas Day with her family and was dropped back to the home by her son at about 8.30pm. Nursing staff originally reported seeing her at 12.30am but this was found to be incorrect after gardaí watched CCTV footage from a local amusements arcade. It showed a woman believed to be Mrs Reynolds at 9.36pm on the night of Christmas Day. This is supported by footage from a Garda CCTV system showing the same woman walking towards Bray Head, and evidence from a couple who met her on Putland Road.
At 6.30am on St Stephen's Day, Bray Garda station received a call from the nursing home to report Mrs Reynolds's disappearance and the intensive search began.
Informal searches continued until January 19th and were then called off. The authorities on the coasts of Wales, Scotland and France were notified of the disappearance in the event of a body being discovered.
Yesterday, Mrs Reynolds's daughter-in-law Priscilla described the HSE's response to their plight as "appalling". She asked why it took the HSE four months to carry out an inspection of the home, after she had complained in early January.
"I didn't get one phone call from them saying 'it's a work in progress'." She believes the HSE would have done nothing if she had not persisted.
A HSE spokeswoman said "it is the policy of the HSE to investigate all complaints at the earliest possible opportunity".
Ms Reynolds said better procedures must be put in place to ensure such a thing could never happen again. "What's the point in having regulations if they are not enforced?" she said. "Where does the buck stop?"
Ms Reynolds was also critical of the nursing home's handling of her mother-in-law's disappearance. It still has not responded to a request from the family to provide Mrs Reynolds's medical records.
Nursing home owner Paul Costello said he could not comment on this as it was a matter of client confidentiality. However, he and his wife Anne expressed their sorrow for the "terribly tragic incident". Mrs Costello said the disappearance of Mrs Reynolds should never have happened and it was a "system failure".
However, prior to her disappearance she was confident that Mrs Reynolds had received the best possible care.
Mrs Reynolds's family now wants the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, to use his power to bring her inquest forward. Normally seven years must elapse before an inquest can be held if a body has not been found, but the family believes this can be circumvented as there is no likelihood she is still alive, given her age and illness. "We are hoping that he will bring that forward. That would be fantastic, to get some closure," Ms Reynolds said.
HSE findings: the care of Maura Reynolds
• Insufficient staff on the night Maura Reynolds disappeared.
• No documentation relating to Mrs Reynolds's care on the night she disappeared, except in relation to her return to the home and the administration of medication.
• A breach in the regulation regarding the administration and recording of medication.
• The nursing care plan did not appear to be changed to include extra checks on Mrs Reynolds following her designation as a high-risk patient.
• Her care was not recorded on a daily basis in the nursing records.
• Nursing home owners have disputed these findings.