The Leas Cross scandal erupted in Ireland when the nursing home with this name, located near Swords, County Dublin, closed several weeks after a 2005 Prime Time television report revealed sub-standard living conditions there.Leas Cross Nursing Home to close, irishhealth.com, 7/7/2005, retrieved 9 April 2009 The documentary showed a patient with several bedsores who went on to develop MRSA.Probe into deaths of 95 at nursing home, Gene McKenna and Eilish O'Regan, Irish Independent, 28 October 2005, retrieved 9 April 2009 Public concern over the Leas Cross scandal led to the formation of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
Hynes Report Peter McKenna, a 60-year-old man with Down syndrome and Alzheimer's, who died 13 days after being transferred to the home in 2000, was the subject of a report by Martin Hynes, former head of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service. Doctor queried disabled man's care before death, Eilis O'Regan, Irish Independent, 16 November 2005, retrieved 9 April 2009 Mr. McKenna had been transferred from St. Michael's House to the nursing home despite the objections of his family – he was a ward of court. He needed round-the-clock nursing care but that was difficult to manage in the nursing home. St. Michael's House described the report as flawed.
O'Neill Report A report by Professor Des O'Neill reviewed deaths at the home between 2002 and 2005, finding that care was deficient and it was consistent with a finding of institutional abuse.Leas Cross report finds 'systematic abuse', RTÉ News, 10 November 2006, retrieved 9 April 2009, Health Service Executive, last updated 18 August 2008, retrieved 9 April 2009
The report also expressed concern at the short time between patients being transferred from hospitals to the nursing home, particularly in the case of patients from St. Itas Psychiatric Hospital.Leas Cross–catalogue of neglect, irishhealth.com, 11 November 2006, retrieved 9 April 2009 It also stated that there was almost a complete absence of systematic monitoring of deaths in Irish nursing homes.
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