FITNESS TO PRACTISE:TWO DOCTORS and several nurses who worked at the Leas Cross nursing home were reported to their regulatory bodies – the Medical Council and An Bord Altranais – but none has been found unfit to practise to date, the report says.
In the case of the nurses it says in many cases the fitness to practise committee of An Bord Altranais determined that there was not sufficient cause to warrant holding an inquiry. But a number of cases are still pending.
“An Bord Altranais has asked the commission not to reveal details of pending cases to avoid prejudicing any future inquiry. To date, An Bord Altranais has not found that any nurse working at Leas Cross was unfit to practise,” it said.
The nursing staff were reported to An Bord Altranais by the HSE following the closure of the home.
In relation to GPs who provided care to patients at Leas Cross, the report says one negotiated an annual fee of €50,000 to visit residents when the home expanded, but then gave up the job as Leas Cross medical officer in November 2003 because of concerns about the number of patients he was being asked to care for.
The other GP, who began attending the home in December 2003, was paid an annual fee of €18,600 but this was conditional on 70 residents transferring to her GMS list, for which she would be paid separate capitation fees.
The report says two complaints were made about each of these doctors to the Medical Council after the home closed. In each case one complaint was lodged by the HSE and the other by families of former residents. In both cases, the report says, the Medical Council found that there was no prima facie case to hold an inquiry into their fitness to practise.
In relation to staffing levels in the Leas Cross home, the commission found that the overall number of nurses employed was the same in 1998 when it had six residents as it was in 2005 when there were 96 residents. The number of nurses stood at 12 throughout this period.
But the number of care attendants – who it seemed required no qualifications – increased from six to 45 over this period.
The commission found a number of nurses had complained of staffing levels at the home both to inspectors and to its owner.
It also noted that files at the home indicated a number of staff had been reprimanded for “sleeping on the job” and for non-attendance. One care attendant was also suspended after the Prime Time programme in which they were shown asleep on duty.
The report notes many families encountered difficulties communicating with non-Irish nurses and care attendants at the home. One relative told the commission: “A large number of the staff seemed to have limited or no English and some of the staff looked as confused as the patients.”