OMBUDSMAN EMILY O'Reilly has upheld a complaint about the unacceptable standard of care received by an elderly woman in a midlands nursing home.
A new report finds that the 88-year-old woman received care that fell far below what could reasonably have been expected at StMary's Care Centre in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
Ms O'Reilly said the investigation by her office showed that the nursing home failed to ensure that even the patient's most basic needs were catered for, including being adequately fed and hydrated.
The investigation also concluded that the patient was found to have pressure sores and blisters which were not there on her admission to the home.
Furthermore, Ms O'Reilly concludes, the manner in which the initial complaint was handled by the HSE was inadequate and compounded the sense of grievance felt by the woman's family.
The 88-year-old woman, who was physically and mentally incapacitated as a result of a stroke, was being cared for at home by her daughter. One week's respite care had been arranged for her at the nursing home.
However, the daughter, a nurse by profession, was extremely dissatisfied with the standard of care and took her mother home after only three days, because of what she felt was a rapid deterioration in her mother's condition.
Ms O'Reilly found that the complaint was "well founded" and also criticised the HSE for its failure to arrange a promised meeting for the complainant with all the key staff involved in her mother's case.
"In this case, a daughter had dedicated several years of her life to caring for her mother, who was totally dependent, at home.
"With a degree of apprehension, she decided to avail of a one-week period of respite, so that she could attend to other family matters.
"She placed trust in the system that her mother would be cared for to the same standard . . . Very regrettably, the care received was far from what she could reasonably have expected," she said.
The report highlights the failure by staff to contact the daughter to say her mother's condition had deteriorated and the failure of the HSE in its handling of the complaint.
The HSE accepted all the recommendations of the report and said it had developed an action plan to implement them.
Said Ms O'Reilly: "There are valuable lessons to be learned from this investigation, particularly in relation to delivering patient care to older and more vulnerable people. There are also important issues regarding how to deal with complaints in relation to patient care and accountability for such care."