St. Anne's Nursing Home, Charlestown. Image from Google Maps

Emotional scenes as Mayo nursing home closes

Published:

A MAYO nursing home which has been forced to shut has shared emotional footage of residents leaving as its doors close.

St. Anne's Nursing Home in Charlestown has fallen foul of the severe financial difficulties facing private nursing homes created by a chronic shortfall in funding for the Fair Deal scheme.

The owners have been forced to close and have been helping their beloved residents to find new homes.

Emotional videos of some residents leaving the home have been shared on what Karen Dewsall, director of nursing, described as 'a very sad day for all of our residents, their families and our staff'.

Mayo Aontú representative Paul Lawless said lack of government funding for nursing homes is leading to the eviction of residents across the country.

“Our hearts break for these residents and staff,” he commented on 'harrowing' footage of residents leaving St. Anne's.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has raised the issue in the Dáil and expressed his fury that many private nursing homes have been forced to 'evict' residents due to funding shortfalls.

Speaking about the footage released by the Charlestown home, he said: “This footage is truly heart-breaking. The residents are emotional. The staff are emotional.

“The government was warned this would happen. I warned that the minister was sleep-walking towards a nursing home capacity cliff edge. The government are not listening and consequently nursing home residents are being evicted, as homes are forced to shut their doors.”

He continued: “I am furious at the situation the government have allowed to develop. This is a most distressing situation for residents and staff across the country.

“Our elderly have been let down once again - people who have worked hard building this country, rearing their children and paying their taxes all their lives.”

There is a shocking emergency within the nursing home sector at present, which are experiencing a 36% increase in cost of care since 2017, he explained. A third of nursing homes are losing money. Some 900 nursing home beds have been lost in the system in the last three years.

"On average there is €730 more per week for HSE homes, in terms of funding, when compared with private nursing homes.

“The Fair Deal scheme isn’t fair! Unless the government takes this for the emergency that it is, we are going to see more eviction videos published”, concluded Tóibín.

Published: