The HSE has reversed a decision to move elderly residents from Cherry Orchard Hospital in Dublin, in a move which campaigning families have welcomed as a “victory” — while expressing their hope that the decision serves as “a wake-up call to prioritise dignity and respect for all.”
HSE management decided to close beds at the Clondalkin hospital and nursing home last year, announcing plans to temporarily relocate 68 residents to a private nursing home in Clondalkin for one year.
In November, it was announced that the Sycamore and Willow units in the HSE hospital would close to facilitate required works, with families sharply criticising the upheaval of patients, the majority of whom are in their eighties and nineties. Families said the plan was unfair, while back-to-back protests have been seen at the site over the course of the last year.
Campaign group Care Champions say that to their knowledge, 33 residents have so far been moved, with this causing severe stress and upset to patients who were moved away from familiar staff and surroundings. They have continued their twice-weekly protests over the last year, over bed closures which they say have caused devastation and loss of life.
A vigil held at Cherry Orchard in March heard of the “immense” emotional toll on residents, families and staff, with families urging the HSE to reverse the decision and prevent further harm.
Maria Stynes, whose 96-year-old grandfather is a resident of the nursing home, previously told Gript that the risk of transfer trauma for residents is greater than the fire risk. Ms Stynes consistently vowed that families would continue to urge the HSE to keep their loved ones at the nursing home, with many of those still housed there having dementia, being in palliative care with complex medical needs, and near the end of life.
15 residents currently remain on site but have now been informed that a third unit will been made available as an additional multi-occupancy option.
Care Champions said they had led a relentless campaign to keep their loved ones in Cherry Orchard Hospital. While welcoming an outcome they described as a victory, the advocacy group highlighted the 21 families they said had lost loved ones during the “bureaucratic nightmare.”
The original decision to move residents followed a 2022 HIQA inspection which discovered that the floors of the unit were weakening, sparking concern that residents could be injured if a floor caved in.
Campaigning families, in a joint statement released through the Cherry Orchard campaign team and Care Champions, welcomed the decision. It read:
“After six months of needless upheaval and distress caused to our Loved Ones, the HSE has today finally reversed its decision to relocate residents from Cherry Orchard Hospital. This long-awaited victory belongs to the Families who have relentlessly campaigned to keep their Loved Ones in a secure, familiar, homely environment.
“Our hearts are with the 21 families who have lost Loved Ones during this bureaucratic nightmare. The trauma inflicted on all and relocated residents is unconscionable. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Bereaved Families demanding a full, transparent investigation into this indefensible and disastrous HSE blunder.
“We extend immense gratitude to the courageous Families, the unwavering Ballyfermot community, CM Haughey Solicitors and staff and the political representatives, Mark Ward, Stephen Nolan, Fergus O Dowd, Peadar Toibin, Patrick Costello, Daithi Doolan, Vincent Jackson, Joe Behan, Brid Smith, Gino Kenny who championed our cause,” the statement continued.
The statement from the families concluded that the ordeal had been “a stark reminder of the State’s duty of care to protect society’s most vulnerable,” with families expressing their hope that “it serves as a wake-up call to prioritise dignity and respect for all, especially those entrusted with the provision of health care services in our country.”
The HSE has maintained throughout that former residents died due to natural causes.
Families previously criticised “poor communication” from the HSE regarding the decision, with one woman telling the Irish Independent that her mother has stopped eating and has insisted she is not moving from Cherry Orchard. They had repeatedly called on the HSE to reconsider the decision which it described as “inhumane.”
Care Champions had also called on the HSE to answer questions surrounding the move, and asked whether the planned transfer and redeployment of staff was simply the “easiest option for the HSE, devoid of any empathy or true care for the residents who do not want to move.”