'They would say, 'He did get his bath. He just forgets'

Until this week Leah Grant and her siblings thought they were alone in having reservations about the standard of care at the Leas Cross nursing home.

Their father resided there for two years until his death in April 2003 in circumstances which still haunt them.

"We thought we were an isolated incident because we had got good reports on the home," said Ms Grant yesterday. "Now we're looking back and questioning everything that happened."

Her father, Dick Walsh, originally from Co Carlow, was admitted to Leas Cross in February 2001. While he was then aged 91, he was in relatively good physical health and "lucid and very in tune with what was going on in the world", his daughter recalled.

In January 2003, he had a mini-stroke that had not been diagnosed in Leas Cross, she said. "Instead we were told that he had a chest infection and an antibiotic was administered.

"In spite of the administering of two further antibiotics ... it became obvious to us that he was dangerously ill."

On the morning of March 12th, 2003, she called to Leas Cross with her sister, and was "shocked" by what she saw.

"Daddy was wheeled out of his room in a wheelchair. His head was slumped on his chest. He had white milky liquid drooling from his mouth. He was unable to talk or express himself. Any attempt on his part to talk resulted in him choking on phlegm. He was extremely distressed and was trying to tell us how sick he was."

She claimed some staff had been "unconcerned" about their father's condition. When she asked for him to be admitted to hospital, one member of staff replied: "'We don't admit from here'," she said.

Eventually, she said, an ambulance was requested. After 90 minutes, she queried why it was so late and was told that the ambulance had been "booked" rather than called out as an emergency. This caused further grievance as the family felt they had been "misled", she said. Mr Walsh had to be resuscitated twice on the way to Beaumont Hospital where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He died 32 days later, having remained until his death "alert and in touch with reality".

Ms Grant said: "We, as a family have accepted that nothing will bring our beloved Daddy back to us. We can also accept that perhaps his death was inevitable. However, what we cannot accept is the treatment that he was subjected to at Leas Cross in his final days there. 'Miserable' was the word Daddy used himself to describe his last days in Leas Cross."

Ms Grant said her father sometimes complained about not being bathed by staff.

"They would say to us, 'He did get his bath; he just forgets', and we took them at their word. It may be the case but we have no way of knowing."

Attempts to contact Leas Cross management for comment yesterday proved unsuccessful. A spokesman for the Health Service Executive said any complainant was free to bring their concerns about the centre to its new director of nursing.