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New group established in Bray to fight for Public Nursing Home

Following the announcement by the HSE that the Orchard nursing home on the Killarney Rd. in Bray was closing with immediate effect. A new Group has been formed. The group named the Friends of the Orchard consists of members of staff, family members of residents in the Orchard, public representatives and a fire proofing expert. The groups primary concern is for the residents of the nursing home and to ensure that the site on the Killarney Rd. remains the location of a publicly owned and operated nursing home in the future.

The Friends of the Orchard have criticized the HSE strongly in the manner in which they have acted over the last 2 weeks, ever since they took a decision to vacate the Nursing home based on the findings of a fire safety assessment.

The group have had an independent consultant look over the fire assessment and agree with the HSE that indeed there are issues of concern regarding the nursing home building. However the manner in which the residents where informed and moved from the home has caused a lot of distress and anxiety amongst many of the elderly residents. Many residents are very upset and are heartbroken at having to leave their home and their friends. On Friday last curtains where removed from bedrooms and all the furniture in the home was labelled for removal adding to the residents anxiety.

The group welcomes the fact that an application will be made for Capital funding to have the Nursing home rebuilt, however we are not convinced of the need to demolish the existing nursing home. The group believe that the existing nursing can be brought up the existing fire safety standards. We have had a fire proofing expert look at the building and it is his opinion that to bring the building up to current standards it would cost approximately €100,000 and take about 1 month to complete. The nursing home can then be used while a detailed plan is drawn up and an application for capital funding is made.

In the current climate a application for capital funding could take many years. The HSE are in the process of moving all residents into private nursing homes in the Bray and Greystones area. Last year the average cost per week in a private nursing home was €800. Moving 38 residents into private nursing homes will cost the HSE approximately €30,400 a week, a whopping €1,580,800 a year. As it may take many years to have the funding in place and the nursing home built it makes economic sense to bring the existing building up to standard and keep all the elderly residents in the environment they are used to and happy with and don?t want to leave.

The Friends of the Orchard are demanding a meeting with Professor Brendan Drumm who is Chief Executive of the HSE and also Minister for Health Mary Harney. They have also organised a petition and are asking the public to sign it to protect their pubic nursing home. They also have a public meeting on Thursday 19th February in the Royal Hotel in Bray and all are welcome.

The Friends of the Orchard are unconvinced that it is the HSE or indeed Government policy to maintain a publicly owned nursing home on the site in Bray. They stated that they will do everything within their power to ensure that the Orchard nursing home on the Killarney RD. in Bray will continue to provide the best care for the elderly of the area in a safe building, which is publicly owned and operated.