Ex-watchdog chief takes over at controversial care home firm
Regulation body chief to run company as it prepares for rebranding from next month
THE former chief executive of Northern Ireland’s health watchdog has taken a job running a disgraced care home firm.
Dermot Parsons left the RQIA three weeks ago and it can now be revealed that he has taken up the job of managing director of Runwood Homes. The company, which will be renamed next month, is at the centre of two police investigations into claims of abuse and neglect of residents.
THE former chief executive of Northern Ireland’s health watchdog has taken a job running a disgraced care home firm which is at the centre of two police investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect of residents, it can be revealed.
Dermot Parsons left the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) three weeks ago and has taken up the job of managing director of Runwood Homes. It can also be revealed that the company is to be renamed from next month.
An internal email sent to staff has announced the appointment of Mr Parsons as managing director, as well as rebranding plans which will see the company renamed as Kathryn Homes (NI) from the beginning of February.
The email reads: “We are pleased to announce we have appointed a new managing director, Dermot Parsons, for our Northern Ireland homes. Dermot comes to us with a wealth of experience and has the care and well-being of our residents and staff at the heart of all he does.
“We can also proudly reveal that the rebranded Kathryn Homes (NI) will have new signage on the homes proudly announcing the new company name, new branded uniforms and badges, a standalone Kathryn Homes (NI) website, and the Kathryn Homes (NI) logo on stationery.”
Mr Parsons takes up his new job two-and-a-half years after a damning report by Eddie Lynch, the Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland, which found that residents of Dunmurry Manor, which is owned by Runwood Homes and has since been renamed Oak Tree Manor, had suffered shocking neglect, including starvation and sexual abuse.
The report revealed that relatives of residents were forced to buy continence pads as Runwood only provided “the cheapest of the cheap” and nurses bought their own blood pressure monitors because ones provided by Runwood were broken. Mr Lynch said countless agency staff worked for one day at the facility and refused to return because it was so dangerous.
“There is no doubt many people were neglected and abused, with some spending their last few months living in appalling conditions,” he said.
“Some family members put it to me they felt their loved ones were simply left to die. What sort of a system do we have where a care home can receive more than £2m from a health trust but the company can’t afford an extra £10 in their budget to give older people continence pads? That’s the reality of the regime in place.”
Mr Lynch also criticised the RQIA for its role in the failings at Dunmurry Manor, explaining that he was particularly concerned they were happening while the watchdog deemed the home was safe.
Mr Parsons was appointed interim chief executive of the RQIA last year when his predecessor moved to the Public Health Agency, however, his time in the top job was mired in controversy as the entire board of the organisation resigned last June in a row over the handling of the pandemic.
Mr Parsons was replaced by Dr Tony Stevens, the former chief executive of the Northern Trust, although he remained an employee of the RQIA until the end of last year.
His departure from the role came after a series of embarrassing emails, which were sent last April and May, came to light in which Mr Parsons told the chief medical officer of his desire to resign, citing his position as “untenable” and claiming the RQIA board had no confidence in him.
Police are currently carrying out separate investigations into two Runwood Homes facilities — Dunmurry Manor and Glenabbey Manor. At the same time, the Belfast Trust is carrying out a high-level probe after it stepped in to remove all residents from another Runwood Homes facility, Clifton Nursing Home, in May last year following the deaths of nine residents during a Covid-19 outbreak.
Asked to comment on the appointment of Mr Parsons and the company’s planned rebrand, a Runwood Homes spokesman said: “Our residents and their families remain our priority, any announcement in relation to a rebrand will be shared with them in the first instance.”
A spokesman from the RQIA said: “Dermot Parsons resigned his post in RQIA and left his employment on December 31, 2020. It would not be for RQIA to comment on his current position.”
‘There is no doubt people were neglected and abused, with some spending their last few months living in appalling conditions’