Madam, – It is with great sadness and grave concern that I read the detailed allegations concerning Rostrevor Nursing Home (Home News, June 9th).
It was only on June 6th that I marked the sixth anniversary of my father’s death which occurred in Leas Cross Nursing Home. He died in very difficult circumstances in the week following the Prime Time programme in May 2005. I was at the time of my father’s death wearing two hats; first I was a daughter and second I was a qualified nurse with a long career in nursing administration. I can remember feeling so helpless, frustrated and powerless as I lived in fear that my father might suffer more when I tentatively asked or suggested that he required more nursing care, nutrition and even a consultation with the local doctor.
I must add that his private care was very expensive at that time, which was his right to receive and yet I found it necessary to carry out most of his care myself.
I took up the gauntlet approximately a year after his death as I could not grieve appropriately for my father. I also felt strongly from a professional viewpoint that I was honour-bound to try to prevent a recurrence of the Leas Cross situation. I made contact with the department of consumer affairs at the HSE and from there I became involved in an independent group, The Forum for Older People, which commenced in late 2006. I also wrote a detailed report for The Commission of Investigation into Leas Cross and participated on the training programme for the new inspectors at Hiqa.
The working party of the forum identified three main projects of work 1. To train “independent” advocates to work on a voluntary basis for older people in residential care. 2. To offer a course in “personal excellence” for all auxiliary staff in the residential care settings. 3. To set up a website which would contain detailed information on each of the nursing homes available to people in Ireland where they could read at their convenience the facilities offered at each establishment.
All of these projects have just completed their pilot study phase and have undergone a formal evaluation process.
So far we have trained nationally 150 independent advocates at the National College of Ireland to a Fetac Level 6: they are now active in residential care homes. There are a further 25 in training and approximately 60 more candidates commencing in Galway and a cross-Border initiative in Monaghan at the end of this month.
The personal excellence programme has also been delivered in 10 residential centres nationally and is ongoing; the website has been populated by 350 nursing homes to date. The remaining 268 nursing homes will be added shortly.
I am participating in the delivery of the training for the independent advocates. I see first-hand the great benefit this is affording older people who are experiencing empowerment and having their voices heard through the assistance of very valuable committed advocates who are able to work on their behalf without fear of reprisal.
Finally, I fully empathise with the residents of Rostrevor Nursing Home and their families at this very traumatic situation; also for the many families who now contemplate the very difficult decision to place a relative or family member in residential care.
Many of us will follow this path in life as we too grow older in age.Therefore, we must act immediately, ensuring statutory commitment for this essential service. Access to an independent advocate must be available to every older person; otherwise there is a real fear of many repetitions of the Leas Cross tragedy. – Yours, etc,