Tipperary Protestor - 'All I can say is you have blood on your hands if he should die'

Hundreds of people turned out in force in Nenagh last Saturday afternoon for an organised protest by locals who have been angered by the decision of the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health to use a new 50-bed community nursing home as a temporary stepdown facility to alleviate the overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick.

Attended by townsfolk, local and national politicians, as well as healthcare workers and patients in St Conlon’s nursing home, the march was well attended and culminated in several raw and impassioned speeches on the steps of the site of the new community nursing home.

One of the politicians in attendance was Labour Party TD Alan Kelly who spoke of his connection to St Conlon’s nursing home and his disgust at the U-turn by the HSE over the use of the facility and he vowed to support those who are in opposition to the decision by any means possible.

“St Conlon’s nursing home is a very special place, it means a lot to me and to my family.

“I’ll tell you a personal story, my son Senan made his confirmation yesterday and we had a great day but the reason I tell you that is because 37 years ago I made my own confirmation.

“I spent the evening of my own confirmation in St Conlon’s nursing home because my uncle was in there and he was my hero.

"He was someone who inspired me and he was probably the reason why I got into politics I wanted to be in there with him and that’s how much St Conlon’s means to me.”

The new unit had been intended as a replacement long-term care facility for residents of St Conlon’s nursing home in the town, which the Health Investigation and Quality Authority has deemed not fit for purpose for just over 20 residents who live there.

Residents and their families had anticipated they would be moved to the new facility shortly, until a decision in recent months by the HSE to use the beds at the facility to alleviate the significant congestion problems at the region's only acute hospital UHL.

He continued saying, “Every week I do a clinic for people in Nenagh and people come in looking for care in nursing homes but we can’t provide it.

“We can’t provide it because we don’t have the extra 30 beds that we deserve in this built unit that is shamefully closed. For the staff, their conditions, the living conditions of the residents.

“The old building is not fit for purpose and it worries me deeply that the HSE would believe that it should continue to be fit for purpose while this building is lying idle.

“We all know about the UHL crisis but I just want to say, in 2008 Nenagh got screwed when we lost our A&E and lost our Coronary Care without any reconfiguration plan but we won’t get screwed again,” he said vehemently.

“When HIPA were looking at closing St Conlon’s nursing home, it became such an issue for me.

“I then had such delight later in 2015 after a lot of fighting that we got funding of €24 million to build this amazing, state-of-the-art nursing home.

“That money is tax-payers money, it’s your money.

“That money was used to build a state-of-the-art facility for all of these fantastic people here in front of us, it was built for the elderly of the future and the people who deserve and need to be in there,” he added finally.

The HSE and the Department of Health said it was decided to use the new Nenagh community nursing unit building as a step-down sub-acute and rehabilitation facility on an interim and temporary basis, to be run by a private operator, until the new unit can be fully staffed.

This would then ensure maximum use of all available bed capacity across the region, for 12 months when it will be reviewed, the HSE said.

However, the decision has caused widespread anger and dismay in the town, who say the elderly and vulnerable residents of St Conlon’s were looking forward to and had expected to be housed in the new nursing home very quickly.

Anna Treacy, who is a SIPTU shop steward and one of the organizers, said the staff and residents were looking forward to moving to the new unit, as well as the others who are also on a waiting list for nursing home care.

She said: “This demonstration shows how strongly people feel about the decision to take away this new state-of-the-art community nursing facility, which residents and other vulnerable elderly people so badly need and who have waited over 13 years for.

"We all feel it’s just so unfair,” she added.

Families of residents also marched with their loved ones, many in wheelchairs, to express their disappointment at the decision and one of those to speak at the demonstration was Brid Ryan whose father Willie is currently a patient in St Conlon’s.

In an impassioned plea to the hierarchy in the HSE, Ms. Ryan spoke of the terrible conditions her father is currently in and insisted that this centre is vital for the elderly of the town.

“All I can say is that my father Willie Ryan, who has been diagnosed with Vascular Dementia has had a long and windy path to getting to St Conlon’s and I know from speaking to Elaine Flynn/staff that there are about 58 people waiting to get in St Conlon’s at present, which is absolutely appalling to think that only 20 people in this community can reside there at the moment,” she said

“We know there’s problems in UHL, they’re the problems for the midwest not for the people of Nenagh. I would appeal to both Minister Donnelly and Minister Mary Butler to retract this decision, to consider seriously what is needed in this town.

“They cannot hoist the problems of the MidWest down on top of us. We do need our elderly cared for, they do deserve something better.

“My father is currently sharing a small room with another lovely gentleman but it’s not fit for purpose in terms of going in to visit him, even to fit a wheelchair down alongside the bed. In terms of cross-contamination of illness, the square meterage is just not fit for purpose, I don’t know how people are letting it continue.

“My father has suffered Covid-19 three times since he went in in the last four years, each time he has been fortunate to survive. All I can say is you have blood on your hands if he should die at the mercy of such an illness again if he’s left to reside in this current location,” she finished.

The HSE said it is committed to engagement with unions, adding that it has met with representatives on three occasions, with a meeting scheduled for this week.