Daughter of man who was attacked at care home calls for inquiry
THE daughter of a former resident of Owen Mor Care Centre is calling for a high-level investigation into conditions at the disgraced care home.
Denise O’Donnell has written to the permanent secretary of the Department of Health, urging him to consider an official probe after her father’s experience at the Londonderry home.
Neil Coyle, who had dementia and prostate cancer, lived at the home between June 2015 and December 2015 and died the following November.
During his time at Owen Mor, Mr Coyle sustained a broken hip as a result of a fall.
Mrs O’Donnell said the family was forced to take him to hospital in a taxi after staff at the home failed to act.
Mr Coyle was also assaulted by a visitor to the home at the beginning of August and a police investigation was carried out.
The family was only told about the attack three weeks later.
Mrs O’Donnell repeatedly raised concerns about her father’s safety and attended numerous meetings on the issue.
He was subsequently given a 28-day eviction notice.
No letter was provided and the family was not told why Mr Coyle was being asked to leave the home.
Appealing to Richard Pengelly to initiate a formal investigation, Mrs O’Donnell said: “There are currently nine families who are raising concerns about the care of their relatives at Owen Mor.
“We know more families have concerns but have chosen to remain silent for now in case they get eviction letters.
“Our family would like to formally request that the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) commissions an independent panel to investigate concerns raised about Owen Mor since it opened in 2015.”
Mrs O’Donnell has yet to receive a response to her letter, which was sent to Mr Pengelly on November 7.
Details of the correspondence and Mr Coyle’s experience at the home came to light as regulators deemed Owen Mor had managed to meet basic safety standards.
The home was banned from admitting new residents after inspectors from the RQIA continually raised concerns about the safety of people living there.
Yesterday the Western Trust apologised to residents and families who had “bad experiences” at Owen Mor.
Aidan Hanna, from the NI Patient Voice group, said he supported calls for an independent inquiry akin to an investigation carried out into the conditions at Cherry Tree House nursing home in Carrickfergus, which uncovered a litany of failings.
A spokeswoman for Owen Mor said she could not comment on Mrs O’Donnell’s allegations. However, she said all incidents were reported to the authorities to follow up on and carry out an appropriate independent investigation into, if required.
She also said that there was a zero-tolerance approach to any inappropriate behaviour and that trained staff manage a wide range of care challenges and act in the patients’ best interests.
She added that a multidisciplinary team exercises its professional judgement to ensure that residents are receiving the care they require and “all decisions focus on the residents’ best interests”.
A spokesman from the Department of Health said Mr Pengelly would respond to Mrs O’Donnell “in due course”.