Locals will fight nursing home closure

LOCALS in Belgooly are planning a protest after hearing their local nursing home is to close within six months.

At a meeting in Coleman’s Bar on Wednesday night many voiced their worries about the effect the closure will have on loved ones residing there, as well as to the local economy.

They plan to march outside Aperee Living Belgooly this Sunday morning at noon, and are calling on owners Aperee to engage with them.

There are currently 49 residents and 41 staff at the 68-bed facility. The owners say a review placed uncertainty on the long-term viability of the home, along with ‘infrastructural restrictions’ and so they have opted to close it.

Siobhan O’Donovan, whose mum Judy is residing there since 2019, described the closure announcement as a ‘total bolt out of the blue’. She has been researching other nursing homes for her mum since.

‘The missing link is that a lot of the costs that are being enforced on nursing homes are coming from Hiqa regulations,’ she said.

‘While Hiqa is there to ensure the safety of our loved ones, there seems to be a point where they have gone beyond. There needs to be accountability if it is now putting nursing homes at risk and causing them to close.’

She also called for government intervention and is worried about the negative effect on her mother of moving her to a new home.

Deputy Michael Collins, who organised the meeting in Coleman’s, said it was clear that locals want to put up a fight against this decision and he called for engagement from Minister for Older People, Mary Butler.

‘We need clarity from Aperee as to why they are closing,’ said Deputy Collins.

‘The Minister has walked away from this crisis and has allowed 36 nursing homes to close across the country and now it’s hitting West Cork. Now these families are panicking trying to find alternative accommodation,’ said the TD. He also expressed concern for the employees.

Drimoleague native Tadgh Daly, chief of Nursing Homes Ireland, who attended the meeting, said that people need to get active with their local politicians on this issue.

‘The Fair Deal scheme is at the root of all of this and the costs of providing care are becoming higher and it’s clearly becoming unsustainable for private nursing homes to survive.’

‘We have an ageing population and we should be planning for this. When nursing homes close in communities like here, they never reopen again and that’s why it’s important to stop the closure there.’

Local Kieran Coughlan said the community must ‘do everything in our power’ to keep it open.

Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard said the patients must be the priority and the HSE must ensure that alternative accommodation is found for residents.

A spokesperson for Aperee said the decision, while regrettable, is ‘part of a commercial and strategic programme to ensure that the group continues on a sustainable footing’.

It added it would help residents and their families to find suitable alternative accommodation.