Alleged negligence at a care home in County Mayo has been revealed by RTÉ´s Primetime investigation unit.
The RTÉ documentary – “Inside Bungalow Three” – centred on the alleged failure to provide an acceptable standard of care for three residents of the Áras Attracta care home in Swinford, County Mayo. Filmed by an undercover reporter posing as a work experience student, the documentary showed appalling scenes of neglect in which residents were humiliated by the staff paid to care for them.
The alleged negligence at the care home for the intellectually disabled provoked Taoiseach Enda Kenny to describe the abuse shown in the documentary as “sickening”, and Tony O´Brien – the Director General of the HSE to comment that the level of care fell “well below the standards that we expect in the health services”.
The HSE has launched two investigations into the alleged negligence – one focusing on the allegations made in the documentary, the second on the Áras Attracta care home in general. An investigation has also been launched by the Gardaí and the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) – the body responsible for monitoring standards in care homes for the intellectually disabled.
Tony O´Brien also apologised to the residents and their families for the alleged negligence at the care home. He said that the HSE did not wish to “pre-empt the findings of an independent investigation” but that it has taken several immediate actions to “guarantee that a safe and caring environment exists for the residents of Bungalow Three”. Nine staff at the care home have been suspended since the documentary was made.
HSE National Director for Social Care Pat Healy – who was given advanced warning of the alleged negligence at the care home – said that the claims “should they be proved to be founded, are wholly unacceptable in any facility that provides care to vulnerable people”. Lorraine Dempsey from the Special Needs Parents Association added: Absolute responsibility in any setting goes right up to the top level of management, and in this case we are talking about the HSE”.