STRIPPED AND HUMILIATED

Pictured naked, beaten, left to lie in their own waste… a damning dossier of elder abuse in our nursing homes

‘Heart-breaking and infuriating’ There were at least three complaints of sex assault

A ‘CONFUSED and embarrassed’ nursinghome resident was stripped naked and photographed by staff, according to a complaint to the State’s health watchdog.

The shocking allegation was among 346 sent to the Health Information and Quality Authority about nursing homes and services for the elderly in the first seven months of this year.

The staff involved said they removed the resident’s clothes, including their underwear, before photographing them so they could keep a record of bruising, according to the complaint.

The litany of reports include multiple allegations of physical, verbal and sexual abuse in homes for the elderly. Age Action has described them as ‘heart-breaking and infuriating’. One complaint told of residents being left for ‘a number of hours in their own waste’ due to a shortage of incontinence wear.

Another reported that a resident had to be sent to hospital for three weeks ‘due to neglect’, after they were left ‘lying in their own waste in the bed… the sheets were soaking and there was no nappy on’.

There were multiple complaints of assaults by staff on residents.

In one case, it was alleged that nursing home management had told the family of a resident that the assailant had been sacked but they continued to work in the home.

One complainant ‘observed a member of staff kick a patient’ and noted that it was ‘not the first time this has happened’.

Another reported that a staff member was ‘physically and verbally abusing’ some residents, ‘telling them to be quiet, using abusive language’.

There were a large number of complaints about unexplained injuries on residents. One was said to have been hurt in a fall but ‘despite multiple requests, the provider has not shared the incident report’, according to one of the allegations.

Another resident was allegedly ‘hurt by staff’, who had asked them ‘not to complain for fear they lose their job’.

There was also a report of ‘severe bruising’ on a resident, who had not reported the incident because there was a threat of discharge ‘hanging over’ them.

There were at least three complaints of sexual assaults among the 346 notifications received between January and August of this year. One noted that ‘no proper investigation was carried out’ while another alleged a ‘lack of communication’ from the provider. Elderly residents being left unattended was a common theme among the complaints. One resident was left on the toilet for two hours.

One complainant reported: ‘The call bell was taken away [and the resident] was left for hours in soiled clothes.’

Another said: ‘There is a strong odour of urine and faeces in the bedroom… [The] resident is not assisted with personal hygiene. The

bedroom and bathroom area is filthy and the strong odour is extremely unpleasant.’

One resident was left unsupervised and ‘was later found on the ground some distance from the centre’. They had ‘serious injuries’ and prompted concerns that the home ‘cannot provide the appropriate care’. The complaints also contained reports of financial abuse of older people.

A resident was being charged for religious services, which were free; while others were being charged for social activities that were not being provided. Some were charged twice for certain products. And some gifts delivered to a nursing home were not being handed out.

There were several complaints about staff shortages, some of which noted that additional staff were rostered at times when nursing homes were aware that there was going to be a Hiqa inspection.

Justin Moran, head of advocacy and communications with Age Action described the complaints as ‘heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time’.

He said: ‘Complaints about physical abuse; about the dignity and privacy of older people being ignored; about calls for help going unanswered, paint a picture of the appalling conditions to which some older people in nursing homes have been condemned,’ he said.

‘It is critical that these complaints are fully investigated by Hiqa and, where they are found to be substantiated, that those responsible are held accountable.’

Mary Dunnion, Hiqa’s chief inspector of social services and director of regulation, said that unsolicited information in relation to disability services was highly valued by the watchdog.

‘The reporting of concerns is important as it informs Hiqa of the potential for adverse or potentially harmful events that have impacted – or may impact – on the health, safety and wellbeing of residents,’ she said.

‘The receipt and assessment of concerns is a key monitoring activity. All information is acknowledged, recorded, risk assessed and used to inform further activity, including inspection, as required.’

Hiqa said the response to unsolicited concerns can range from seeking additional information to requesting an investigation or scheduling an unannounced inspection to examine any risk indicated by the information received.

Allegations of physical and emotional abuse have also been levelled at care staff in disability services across Ireland.

TheJournal.ie reported this week that concerns around understaffing, proper hygiene, assault among care patients and residents of centres, unexplained bruises, neglect and other issues have been raised in documents released to it by Hiqa.

‘Charged for religious services that were free’