State agencies have been brought into a number of legal actions being taken against private nursing homes by the families of residents who died in the facilities after contracting Covid-19.

Documents released by the Health Service Executive show its risk committee has been informed that it has been named in some proceedings, while the State Claims Agency, which manages claims against the HSE and other State bodies, said it had been notified of “a small number of claims relating to the deaths of residents in private nursing homes”.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has been notified as a named party in three separate actions being taken by relatives of residents who died of Covid-19 at Dealgan House Nursing Home in Dundalk, Co Louth.

Hospital Report

Dealgan House was one of the worst hit nursing homes during the first wave of the pandemic, with 23 residents dying from Covid-19. It, like a majority of Irish nursing homes, is owned and operated by a private company.

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Sources suggested that the public health role played by the HSE during the pandemic in the homes was, in some cases, the basis for adding the State bodies to the proceedings.

A document released under the Freedom of Information Act notes that Hiqa was “cognisant” of the legal challenges and says “any correspondence or interaction we have or make in relation to Dealgan House Nursing Home has been framed within this legal context”.

Hiqa inspection

Vivienne McNally, whose father Dominic died at Dealgan House in April, told The Irish Times she was taking legal action for negligence against parties including Hiqa, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), the Community Health Organisation Area 8 for Louth (under the HSE) and the operator.

Ms McNally described a Hiqa inspection report on the home dated May 27th last as “scandalous”. This was during a period when the RCSI hospital group took over the management of Dealgan House to ensure safe staffing levels. At the height of its Covid-19 outbreak, only seven of 24 nursing staff were available to the 84-bed home.

The inspectors found the nursing home was “not compliant” with eight different regulations, including staffing, infection control, risk management, health care, and governance and management.

“They gave them a judgement of ‘compliant’ in communication difficulties. How could that be when the families did not receive any calls to say ‘we’re in trouble here’? When I asked for my father’s records, I was hit with a brick wall,” Ms McNally said.

“They considered calling in the Army and the Red Cross but I was told my father was fine in there. . .We want accountability. It’s not a money issue; it’s that we can’t get closure. It’s to make sure this never happens again.”

Ms McNally said she and her mother were allowed into the home to visit her father before he died. They were allowed to spend “hours” with him, though only one set of personal protective equipment (PPE) was provided due to shortages, she said, and they were not informed that he had tested positive for Covid-19 until after his death.

Ms McNally is taking legal action for medical negligence, though ultimately, she is seeking a formal apology. “His end of life could have been so different.”

One relative of a Dealgan House resident who died of Covid-19, who did not want to be named, said she and several other relatives were “calling for an inquiry into the deaths” and the legal route would be their “last course of action”.

Separately, a solicitor told The Irish Times they were preparing to take legal cases on behalf of infected workers at the home.

A spokesman for Hiqa said he could not comment on the matter as it is the subject of legal proceedings. A spokesman for the State Claims Agency said the agency does not disclose claims data “relating to individual institutions as this may create a risk of inadvertently identifying claimants”.

A spokesman for the RCSI said “RCSI Hospital Group note that this is a matter for the families”. Dealgan House did not respond to a request for comment.