Roscrea needs long-stay public nursing home say Dean Maxwell families

Roscrea's Dean Maxwell Community Nursing Home residents received a commitment they will continue to reside and receive care in Roscrea, but concerns remain over the long term future of the facility and how public nursing home care will be provided in the town.

This week the families of the residents welcomed the commitment for current residents to stay in the nursing home, but also called for new long-stay nursing care facilities to be provided in Roscrea "so other older people aren’t forced to leave their hometown".

The calls come after Tipperary TD, Michael Lowry, last week revealed that following intensive discussions with senior personnel in the HSE, they confirmed that the Community Nursing Unit will maintain its existing services and remain fully open.

Six staff vacancies are also set to be filled immediately, comprising four nursing positions and two multiTask Attendants.

Following a meeting of a group of family representatives of residents at the Dean Maxwell Community Nursing Unit in Roscrea, the recent announcement by the HSE and Deputy Lowry has been welcomed, but that welcome was tempered with concerns for the future.

"It will mean that residents who regard each other, and their nurses and carers, as part of their wider family, will no longer have to worry about being separated and forced to move to a nursing home miles away", Donnacha Delaney, spokesperson for the families, told the Tribune when he reiterated his previous calls for a new facility for Roscrea.

The families also welcomed the announcement that permanent additional nursing and caring staff will be immediately recruited, which is crucial in providing continuity of care to residents.

However, with the decision to repurpose the current Dean Maxwell Community Nursing Unit as a respite and day centre only, the families are calling on the HSE and all political parties to commit to providing new long-stay nursing home beds in Roscrea. 

This is to make up for the loss of the 20 long-stay and two palliative care beds currently available in the Dean Maxwell.

The family representatives pointed out that the ceasing of the Dean Maxwell as a nursing home will essentially mean the town potentially losing one of its four long-stay nursing homes.

“With the other nursing homes at capacity, and operating waiting lists, the loss of 20% of the town’s long-stay beds, at a time when the older population has increased by 10%, is ill-advised,” Mr. Delaney said.

“It will leave other older people requiring long-stay care potentially having to move a considerable distance, cutting them off from the enjoyment and familiarity of their home town. 

"It will also inevitably mean less frequent visits by families and friends, and the loss of access to the continuity of care provided by the family GP who has known the person all of their lives.

“With the government recently finding itself €13 billion richer, the provision of new long-stay nursing care facilities for the people of Roscrea, to make up for the loss of the Dean Maxwell, should be deemed a priority item on which to spend a tiny fraction of this very welcome windfall,” he said.