Grieving family tell of frustration as care home refuses to release late mother’s records

A grieving family have called on the Government to make private nursing homes more accountable if concerns are raised around care.

Cecelia Gorey and Jacquie Coates have spoken about their struggle to access information after their mother, Maureen Gorey, died in a nursing home in October 2022.

The family had concerns about the medication their mother was on. They were also worried about other aspects of the care she was receiving in a Co Meath nursing home.

Mrs Gorey, who was better known as Dolly, lived in a CareChoice nursing home for the last six years of her life. She had vascular dementia.

Following her death, her daughters had concerns about her treatment and made a complaint. However, this was not upheld by the home.

They then tried to approach the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) for help, but the independent body for health and social care services does not act on individual complaints.

The family also tried to use the Freedom of Information (FoI) law to find out how many times concerns might have been raised with Hiqa about their mother’s home in a four-year period.

However, this was refused by Hiqa, which said that giving the information to the family “could reasonably be expected to result in a material financial loss to the owners and operators of a private business”.

The family could not use FoI to obtain records about their mother directly from CareChoice as the private nursing home is not a public body.

Cecelia Gorey said it was her view that private nursing homes could be “a law unto themselves”.

“They are not answerable to anyone other than themselves,” she said. “This has to change and needs to be legislated.

“When you contact Hiqa, they will not investigate single cases. When you request an investigation from the nursing home, it’s conducted internally.”

After Mrs Gorey died, her family wrote to the home, pleading for clearer information about their mother’s last days and hours.

The letter stated: “Not knowing how our mam died is heartbreaking and exceptionally traumatic for us all.

“Where there is a gap in information, our minds are in turmoil.”

Mrs Gorey’s daughters tried to get access to all of her medical and non-medical records, as well as records of her food and fluid intake for the last month of her life, but this was denied.

Ms Coates said she is concerned that families who use private nursing homes do not have enough support from the HSE, as it does not have any jurisdiction over such facilities.

“Our parents are precious. They lived their lives doing everything they can for their families, with compassion, with generosity, with kindness,” she said.

“When they get dementia, do not treat them like children. Do not dismiss them, and do not just disregard them.

“They are still human beings. Compassion, dignity, generosity, love – that’s all they want.”

Hiqa said: “All information received is acknowledged, logged and examined by Hiqa.

“If the information relates to a service within Hiqa’s remit, it is reviewed by an inspector to establish if the information received indicates a risk to the safety, effectiveness and management of the service, and the day-to-day care the resident or patient receives.”

Hiqa said it can respond if it considers the service provider “may not be compliant with the regulations and/or national standards”.

A spokesperson for the HSE said: “Any concerned family member or member of the community can raise a safeguarding concern regarding a private or public nursing home.

“While the HSE has no jurisdiction over private nursing homes, the HSE has a role advising, supporting and guiding private nursing homes on the response to safeguarding concerns.”

CareChoice said: “With respect for Dolly’s right to privacy, we don’t wish to comment any further, except to say that we cared deeply for Dolly during her time with us in Trim and we are deeply saddened that members of her family are upset.

“We would like to again offer our condolences to all of Dolly’s family since she passed away.”

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