'We've never had any problems with the HSE over the years'

REACTION: THE PROPRIETOR of the Bray nursing home that has been taken over by the Health Service Executive has defended the …

REACTION:THE PROPRIETOR of the Bray nursing home that has been taken over by the Health Service Executive has defended the care provided at the home.

Noel Gillooly, owner of the Glenbervie Nursing Home, said he was happy with the level of care provided at the 27-bed facility and, “nobody is being neglected here”.

There was a lot of paperwork to be organised “but no bedsores, or nothing like that”, he told The Irish Times.

“We’ve never had any problems with the HSE over the years,” said Mr Gillooly, who has run the home for 18 years.

READ MORE

He said the home had come to the attention of the Health Information and Quality Authority following the death of a resident last year and again after a resident fell last week and injured her hip.

“Nobody has died at the home in the last five months. We did have somebody die in October and after that they came down on us, it was an accident,” he said.

“He was in his bedroom, came out and walked up the stairs and he fell down and fractured his skull and died.”

Mr Gillooly said the authorities “seemed to give us a bit of space” until a woman fell and broke her hip in the bathroom last week.

The home had been asked to make some changes but was not given much time to implement them, he said.

Relatives were calling in to visit residents yesterday and making arrangements for their move, following the court order.

They said they were disappointed at the home’s closure, as they were happy with the care provided.

Eugene Kirby’s 87-year-old mother has had no problems in the four years she has been living at the home, he said.

“She was well fed, the staff were beautiful to her, nice staff, we’ve never had a problem.”

Marie, a relative of a resident who did not want to give her full name, described the care for her brother over the last two years as “outstanding”, and was upset that he had to move.

Genevieve Carbery

Genevieve Carbery

Genevieve Carbery is Deputy Head of Audience at The Irish Times