Leas Cross findings 'grave' - expert

The expert asked by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to review all deaths which took place at the Leas Cross nursing home has…

The expert asked by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to review all deaths which took place at the Leas Cross nursing home has revealed his findings are "grave" and "disturbing".

Prof Des O'Neill, a consultant geriatrician, has also said his findings require "urgent attention". However the findings of his review have not been made public to date by the HSE, which received his completed report last April.

It was reported earlier this week that the HSE has refused a request by The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act to release the report. It also refused to release the findings of an internal review of its nursing home inspection process.

Outlining its reasons for refusing to release the documents, the HSE said it is currently considering the reports "and the HSE must be allowed to finalise its deliberations without undue interference in the decision-making process".

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In addition, it claimed it would not provide a balanced view to release the reports in isolation and it was not in the public interest. Also the privacy of residents in the home had to be protected, the HSE said.

The HSE said in June it had formed a team to devise a plan for the implementation of recommendations contained in reports carried out on Leas Cross. However, it has also refused to reveal the names of the people on this working group.

Prof O'Neill's comments on his findings in relation to Leas Cross came during a question-and-answer session at the fifth population summer school at University College Cork yesterday, after he had spoken on the topic of elder abuse. However, he said he could not discuss the contents of his report.

The HSE commissioned him to review all deaths at the Leas Cross home, and deaths after patients were transferred to hospital from the home, over a four-year period.

Some 95 deaths were to be the subject of the review.

Meanwhile, chief executive of Age Action Ireland Robin Webster said the sooner the HSE report was published the sooner there could be a public debate about the actions needed to ensure it does not occur again.

Fergus O'Dowd, the Fine Gael TD who has been campaigning for better standards in all nursing homes, said the failure by the HSE to publish Prof O'Neill's report made him wonder what the organisation had to hide.