Nurses call for urgent safety probe of home

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar TD speaking to media on proposals for emergency legislation on the plinth of Leinster House, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

Eilish O'Regan

Health Minister Leo Varadkar has been called upon to set up an independent examination of the safety of residents in a community home at the centre of serious allegations of misconduct by a male resident.

The HSE-run Knockroe House in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, which is home to a group of men and women with a mental illness or intellectual disability, was the subject of an unannounced inspection by the watchdog body, the Mental Health Commission, this week.

However, Des Kavanagh, head of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), told the union's annual conference in Athlone yesterday that serious concerns have emerged about the safety of some residents and staff.

He called for an urgent independent examination.

He said Mr Varadkar needs to ensure there is an effective investigation into the wider running of mental health services in the region.

A spokeswoman for the HSE Galway Roscommon Mental Health Services said that any serious incident that was alleged to have taken place in any of the services is "fully investigated in line with the HSE serious incident management policy".

The HSE does not comment on any individual cases.

"We have noted the comments from the PNA and ask them to tell us of any incident that they are aware of that has not been reported to or reviewed by the HSE.

"Any group or individual with a specific area of concern is requested to bring that to our attention to enable us to address it," she added.