The Health Service Executive must be brought to account. It has withheld a grave and disturbing report into Leas Cross nursing home that it commissioned from consultant geriatrician Des O'Neill. It has refused to reveal details of an internal review of its nursing home inspection process.
And 15 months after it undertook to publish the results of all such inspections as a matter of course, nothing has happened. This is an appalling record. But it is in keeping with a long history of administrative incompetence and evasion of responsibility that has undermined confidence in our health services.
The mistreatment of elderly people in nursing homes did not begin with the establishment of the HSE or Leas Cross. The illegal sequestering of pensioners' assets by the State over many years reflected a harsh and uncaring official view. And the present attempt to bury a report that details unacceptable practices and weaknesses across the entire nursing home sector is a continuation of that bureaucratic arrogance and neglect.
Responding to demands for transparency, the HSE said officials had been appointed last June to prepare a plan for the implementation of the recommendations made in the O'Neill report. But it declined to name the individuals involved. And it refused to publish the findings on the grounds that it was not in the public interest. The HSE, it insisted, must be allowed to finalise its deliberations without undue interference in the decision-making process. That is bureaucratic nonsense. These are public officials; paid for out of the public purse and they must be made answerable to the community they serve.
Minister for Health Mary Harney has expressed a desire for the report to be published and a wish that the HSE should resolve its difficulties with Professor O'Neill. She could do more. As the person responsible for health policy, Ms Harney has a direct interest in ensuring that nursing homes are safe and well run. She will also have to legislate if public nursing homes are to be brought within the inspection process. In the circumstances, pious wishes - in the absence of action - amounts to political hand-wringing.
If it was not for the courage of Des O'Neill, the interests of elderly patients would be under greater threat. None of the deaths he examined at Leas Cross were preventable. But the grave and disturbing findings he made are system-wide and in need of urgent attention. The HSE should, at least, publish those conclusions and indicate what has been done about implementing his recommendations. Embarking on a new, quasi-judicial process would only delay necessary reforms.