GARDAÍ AND the Health Service Executive (HSE) have begun inquiries into the death of an 85-year-old woman in a Donegal nursing home which was at the centre of an abuse inquiry two years ago.
The woman was admitted to Falcarragh Community Nursing Unit for respite care by a family member last week but was found dead in her room the next morning.
In a statement yesterday the executive expressed its sympathy to the family of the deceased woman and confirmed that a review of the circumstances surrounding the death was under way.
"The gardaí have been notified and the hospital will be co- operating fully with any investigation that may be required," the executive said.
"An immediate review has been commenced which will determine if any other actions or enquiries are required. The family of the deceased person has asked the HSE to request that the media respect their privacy at this difficult time."
Gardaí have confirmed they visited the hospital earlier this week as part of its inquiry.
They have not released any details about the circumstances surrounding the death.
Two years ago Falcarragh Community Hospital was at the centre of an inquiry into allegations of abuse after it was claimed that socks had been placed on the hands and arms of an elderly male patient and then tied together in an attempt to prevent him from removing an incontinence garment.
The executive confirmed that a complaint was received from a family in relation to the incident in August 2006 and that a number of staff were subsequently disciplined.
"Senior HSE staff met with, and unreservedly apologised to, the family for the distress and upset that this incident caused and acknowledged that the incident fell well below best practice in the care of older people," the executive said in a statement.
"The HSE initiated a formal disciplinary procedure in relation to the staff members concerned and sanctions were put in place. These procedures included the involvement of a rights commissioner."
A spokeswoman for the executive said that following a review of the incident, comprehensive policy and system changes were introduced.
These included: changes to night duty roster with night nurses working with a variety of partners throughout the year rather than in set pairings; identifying a nurse on the roster as the person in charge; personal development plans for each nurse which are reviewed annually.
It said a comprehensive restraint policy had been incorporated in the staff training programme.
The latest inquiry into events at the home have focused further attention of the lack of independent inspections of public nursing homes.
While there is a statutory obligation on the executive to inspect private nursing homes, there is no such obligation to inspect public homes.
This was scheduled to change earlier this year following the establishment of the independent Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) and the Office of the Chief Inspector of Social Services.
However, it has been postponed following repeated delays to the establishment of the "fair deal" programme, which is a new system for financing nursing home care.
In the meantime, the HSE said there were well-established procedures in place for responding to complaints over standards of care in public nursing homes.
Under the new system, the chief inspector will be obliged to inspect all residential care services for older people and measure them against new standards established by Hiqa.