Report imminent on alleged shortcomings at nursing home

 24th March 2022

Investigators examining whistleblower allegations of shortcomings at a Dublin nursing home during the first wave of Covid-19 are due to submit their draft report next week.

The probe was launched after allegations made in April 2020 by a whistleblower working in St Mary’s Hospital nursing home in Phoenix Park.

It was one of the worst-hit homes, with 20 coronavirus- related deaths during the first phase of the pandemic.

In a protected disclosure in April 2020 to then-health minister Simon Harris, HSE CEO Paul Reid, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan and the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa), the whistleblower alleged shortcomings in the response at St Mary’s during the first wave.

It is understood the protected disclosure alleged shortcomings in the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the home and lack of testing for staff. There were also issues around the isolation of patients at the start of the outbreak in March 2020.

The HSE appointed a three- person review team with an independent chair to examine the allegations made in the 35-page dossier submitted.

The team has met with 28 witnesses and representatives of four families who lost loved ones to Covid-19 at the facility in the first wave of the pandemic.

In a recent letter to the legal firm representing the whistleblower, Mr Reid said the investigating team was asked to finish the review and deliver a report to the HSE by the end of March.

“On receipt of the report, a period will follow during which the draft report will need to be considered, and it is likely to be a lengthy and detailed report,” he said.

In earlier correspondence from the investigation team to the whistleblower, the terms of reference for the investigation stated that its purpose was to “investigate the subject matter of the protected disclosure”. It added that the investigation will address “all concerns raised by the discloser”.

The team met the whistleblower to confirm and validate an understanding of the nature of the disclosures and examine any supplementary evidence.

On completion of its investigation, the team said it would produce a report on the findings, stating conclusions as to whether “the alleged wrongdoings is/was occurring”.