By: Michael O’Farrell – Investigations Editor
GARDAÍ are set to investigate a horrific case of elder abuse on foot of revelations first published in last week’s Irish Mail on Sunday.
Last week, the MoS revealed that the HSE left a blind elderly patient in the charge of an abusive home carer for several days – after the carer was caught on video allegedly assaulting the vulnerable woman.
The sickening footage shows the HSE-funded home support carer use a face cloth to wipe herself after urinating – which she then proceeds to use to ‘clean’ the elderly client’s face.
Other footage caught on secret video by a niece of the victim shows the carer aggressively cursing at her client and letting her fall roughly back into a chair.
The incidents, which happened more than two months ago, had never been referred to gardaí by the HSE, despite a complaint from the niece of the elderly woman.
Last week, the Garda press office did not issue a statement when contacted by the MoS, but in a statement released yesterday it said: ‘The HSE has referred an incident to An Garda Síochána which is currently being investigated.’
Following last week’s coverage, the HSE has also now appointed independent legal firm Mason Hayes & Curran to investigate how the matter had been handled by the HSE and home care firm All In Care.
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Last night, the niece of the elderly victim said she did not believe the gardaí would be investigating at all were it not for the coverage in this newspaper.
‘If it wasn’t for the article, I think we still wouldn’t have an investigation going forward and the gardaí would not have been notified,’ she said.
‘The newspaper is the only one giving my aunt any justice in this matter.’ In order to protect the identity of the victim – who remains unaware of what happened to her – the MoS has decided not to name the niece.
Fine Gael TD Colm Burke, who has been seeking to introduce legislation to regulate the home care sector for years, also criticised the HSE.
‘Once there is information about what is potentially a serious criminal allegation, then any State agency is obliged to report it to the gardaí immediately,’ he said.
‘I think the HSE are obliged to ensure that there’s a proper investigation carried out and also appropriately advise the gardaí.’
The shocking revelations come amid continuing concern at repeated Government failures to regulate the home care industry.
Law Reform Commission recommendations that Hiqa (the Health Information and Quality Authority) be empowered to regulate home care standards – and that carers be registered like other medical employees – has remained on the shelf since 2011.
Meanwhile, there have been mounting concerns about the safety of those being cared for at home, as well as the conditions of those employed to care for them.
For instance, Hiqa has so far this year been informed of 10 cases relating to home care that it remains powerless to investigate.
The HSE was made aware of the recorded incidents – which could amount to criminal assault – on June 10 during the Covid-19 lockdown. But the carer, an employee of Dublin firm All In Care, was left in place until she resigned herself.
According to the carer – whom the MoS has tracked down and spoken to – she left between June 14 and 16.
According to the niece, the carer was still in place for a week after the complaint. This appears to be a breach of the HSE’s procedures aimed at protecting vulnerable persons.
According to these procedures, the HSE should ‘immediately ensure the safety of the client’ and ‘contact An Garda Síochána as appropriate’ within three days of a complaint being raised.
So far, neither the HSE nor All In Care have apologised for the disturbing incidents caught on video. ‘Where matters are the subject of ongoing review/inquiry, All In Care cannot prejudice outcomes by way of apology,’ a spokesman told the MoS last week.
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However, the company said it would ‘unhesitatingly’ apologise ‘on conclusion of any such review establishing any duty of care deficiencies’.
Both the HSE and All In Care launched investigations but neither probe spoke to the carer or even informed her that her behaviour had been secretly caught on camera.
The MoS understands that All in Care was not informed of the existence of the video until after the carer had left their employ.
In fact, the first time that the carer became aware that the disgusting incident – which she says she cannot remember – was caught on camera was when the MoS phoned her up to speak to her about it.
Before resigning, the carer had already been the subject of a disciplinary process at All In Care. The carer herself confirmed this previous disciplinary sanction to the MoS but said it did not relate to client care – or this case.
‘It was not because of a client – in a client’s house or anything like that,’ she said.
‘It was my behaviour,’ she said. ‘You can put it like that but it was general, you know, it was never with any clients.’ Asked whether the behaviour she was disciplined for was enough to get fired, the carer replied: ‘Yes it was – it was.’
