CARER’S ABUSE OF BLIND WOMAN

Shocking video reveals soiled cloth was used to wash the face of a frail pensioner

THE HSE left an elderly patient in the care of an abusive home carer for several days – even after the carer was caught on video allegedly assaulting the vulnerable woman.

Sickening footage shows the HSEfunded home support worker using a facecloth to wipe herself after urinating, and shortly after using the same cloth to clean the fragile woman’s face.

Other harrowing footage, caught on secret video by a niece of the victim, reveals the carer swearing aggressively at her client and letting her fall roughly back onto a commode.

The shocking revelations come amid continuing concern at repeated Government failures to regulate those who care for the elderly and

most vulnerable in their homes. Law Reform Commission recommendations that the Health Information and Quality Authority be empowered to regulate home care standards, and that carers be registered like other medical employees, has remained on the shelf since 2011.

Meanwhile, there have been mounting concerns about the safety of those being cared for in their homes – as well as the conditions of those employed to care for them.

Last night, Hiqa revealed it has been told about 10 home care cases of concern this year but it is powerless to investigate them.

The HSE was made aware of the videoed incidents, which could amount to criminal assault, on June 10, during the Covid-19 lockdown. But the carer, an employee of Dublin firm All In Care, was left in place until she resigned herself.

According to the carer, who the Irish Mail on Sunday has tracked down and spoken to, she left between June 14 and 16. A niece of the alleged victim has said the carer was still in place for a week after a complaint was made. This appears to be a breach of the HSE’s National Policy & Procedures for Safeguarding Vulnerable Persons at Risk of Abuse, which says it should ‘immediately ensure the safety of the client’ and ‘contact An Garda Síochána as appropriate’, within three days of a complaint being raised.

The niece, who is appalled at her experience with the HSE, told the MoS she wanted to speak out to help change the law and protect others. ‘There are no words to describe the magnitude of what happened to this woman,’ she said. ‘She didn’t deserve what happened to her. She didn’t deserve that. No human being deserves that. The woman can’t stick up for herself. She can’t see. She can’t even stand on her own two feet.’

In order to protect the identity of the victim, who remains unaware of what happened to her, the MoS is not naming her or her niece.

The niece, who has a background in healthcare in the US, travelled to Ireland in February when she became concerned about her elderly aunt’s care.

In the following months she repeatedly complained about the standard of care being given by the HSE and All In Care.

Others, including volunteers providing a meals-on-wheels service in the area, had also been complaining about unsanitary conditions and the standard of personal care being delivered for more than a year. ‘My aunt has been so let down by your system,’ the niece said. ‘I was brought up to believe that if you make a mistake, you own up to your mistake and you do the best you can to correct it. That’s the way it should be.’

So far neither the HSE nor All In Care have apologised for the disturbing incidents caught on video.

‘Where matters are the subject of ongoing review/inquiry, All In Care cannot prejudice outcomes by way of apology,’ a spokesman told the

MoS this weekend.

The company said it would ‘unhesitatingly’ apologise ‘on conclusion of any such review establishing any duty of care deficiencies’. All In Care said all ‘complaints are taken very seriously, investigated and reported as a matter or priority to the relevant regulatory authorities’.

The spokesman said: ‘Given its duty of confidentiality, All In Care cannot comment on individual clients, staff or former staff and those constraints substantially limit its ability to defend its good name and exemplary track record, not least in the context of allegations that substantially relate to a former staff member.’

The HSE and All In Care launched investigations but neither inquiry spoke to the carer, or even informed her that her behaviour had been secretly caught on camera. There is currently nothing to stop the carer from taking up another role in the care industry.

The MoS understands that All In Care was unaware of the existence of a video until June 24, more than a week after the carer had left.

Prior to resigning, the carer had already been the subject of a previous disciplinary process at All In Care, relating to completely separate concerns about her behaviour.

The carer confirmed this previous disciplinary sanction to the MoS but said it did not relate to client care.

Case records show that the HSE held a multidisciplinary team meeting to discuss the care of the elderly woman on March 12 and that Margaret Campbell, HSE Manager of Services for Older People,

Dublin South East, was there.

Dissatisfied with the meeting, and still concerned for her aunt, the niece installed cameras in her aunt’s home on March 19, and informed all parties of the move.

This sparked concern amongst HSE managers and at All In Care.

‘Carers are understandably anxious that there seems to be a camera in the bedroom where they are assisting [name withheld] with personal care,’ Ms Campbell wrote in an email to the niece on March 25.

But the email praised the ‘significant progress’ the niece had made for her elderly relative, saying it had ‘made a great difference to her wellbeing’. On March 31, the niece asked All In Care to replace her aunt’s carer, but this never happened. This correspondence complained of clothes left soaked in urine, aggressive behaviour and

Hiqa told of 10 cases, but it has no power to investigate

Both launched inquiries but didn’t speak to carer

continuing concerns about personal care and household chores.

As she became increasingly concerned for her aunt, the niece installed a further nanny camera at the end of May.

Several days later, on June 4 and 6, the apparent abuse was recorded.

The niece discussed her concerns with the victim’s GP and an advocate from the SAGE advocacy group for vulnerable adults, before making a complaint to the HSE on June 10. The complaint was acknowledged in writing by a HSE social work team leader the following day.

‘I am mandated to raise these issues with the management of the care agency concerned,’ the HSE reply reads. ‘They will then investigate with their staff and report what their action plan is and what they are doing to safeguard your aunt. The HSE will work in partnership with all parties to safeguard your aunt from further abuse.’

However, the correspondence also told the niece: ‘As the care agency is a private company, contracted by the HSE, we cannot investigate complaints against their staff directly.’ This left the carer in place for several days until she resigned, having never been spoken to about the events caught on video.

On July 30, All In Care director Bryan Meldrum informed the niece that the firm had ‘taken internal disciplinary action against the employee concerned’.

He wrote: ‘In that context, we can confirm that the employee will not be returning to work with your aunt in the future. We are satisfied that the matter has now been dealt with in the appropriate way.’

He never mentioned the fact that the carer had been the subject of previous disciplinary action, unrelated to this case, or that she had already left her job of her own accord before being questioned about this case.

The HSE continued its investigation, while informing the niece that it was also investigating bullying allegations against her that appear to have ben made by the carer.

‘They’re trying to turn me into a bully or make me a freak because I put cameras in and caught them,’ the niece, who denies any bullying, told the MoS.

This week the MoS asked the HSE’s Ms Campbell why no one appears to have reported the apparent abuse to the gardaí and why no one has apologised. She did not directly answer the question.

‘I suppose really, in terms of the process that we have, the communication has been directly between the provider and client and family through solicitors,’ she said.

The MoS then asked whether it had yet been deemed appropriate to inform the gardaí.

‘It had to go through the process that it would normally go through and it has been explained and resolved,’ Ms Campbell replied.

Asked abut the apparent assault Ms Campbell said: ‘That’s all being investigated. It’s all gone through due process. The HSE and our safeguarding team have been involved. There has been huge, huge involvement… it’s just not as straightforward as it would appear.’

To date it remains unclear whether or not the case has been notified to the gardaí, something the HSE and All In Care have not clarified.

The Garda Press Office was unable to locate any record of a safeguarding notification relating to the case. In response to queries from the MoS, the HSE issued a statement to say it was ‘aware of a safeguarding concern raised in respect of a client in receipt of home support’, but could not comment on individual cases. ‘Our primary consideration is the continued care and welfare of the persons at the centre of these safeguarding concerns.

‘The HSE Safeguarding Team were notified and a preliminary screening of the incident was undertaken. All appropriate measures have been taken in accordance with the Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults policy,’ the statement continued.

‘The HSE cannot comment on the management of individual employees of external agencies, other than to confirm the agency has complied with HSE safeguarding requirements. The matter is subject to an ongoing investigation under the HSE Incident Management Framework.’

The HSE did not address questions on the number of other clients the carer, in this case, was responsible for and whether families have been informed of the situation.

‘Matter has been dealt with in appropriate way’