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Bray Councillor and The Friends of the Orchard Meet with the HSE

Cllr Brady highly critical of HSE decision to close nursing home, describing it as “ill-considered and wasteful

Bray Sinn Féin Councillor John Brady has described the decision of the HSE to shut down and evict 38 elderly residents and around 20 staff from the Orchard Nursing Home in Bray as “ill considered and wasteful”. He said it has caused “massive disruption to the lives of many of those living their who consider it their home.”

Cllr. Brady said, “I appreciate the concerns that have been raised about the safety of this building and in particular the concerns around fire safety. They must be addressed. However, the HSEs decision to close the building and evict 38 residents has been a massive over reaction which is ill-considered and wasteful.

“Moving the residents to private nursing homes will cost the the HSE a minimum of €1.5 million a year. Independent assesors believe that remedial work to make the Orchard Nursing Home health and safety compliant would cost between €100,000 and €200,000. Yet it appears that the HSE hasn’t even considered this option. They seem hell-bent on bulldozing the building as quickly as possible.

“In this current economic climate and with the slash and burn policies being introduced on a daily basis by the Government it is impossible to give any credibility to the HSE’s claims that they will successful in applying for a capitation grant for a new building in 2010. I believe this is just a ruse to get rid of the Orchard Nursing Home and when 2010 comes along we will be told there is no money for a new building.

“Spending between €100,000 and €200,000 on remedial work is a far more cost effective solution to the problems that exist and it would not cause the massive disruption to the lives of many of those living their who consider it their home. Myself and members of the Friends of the Orchard in crisis group meet this morning with the HSE and put this point to them. We have also asked that no further works to clear out the Nursing home takes place until this proposal is looked at. The HSE have said they will organise another meeting between our group and themselves before any further work takes place “I am calling on the head of the HSE, Professor Drumm to intervene in this matter and have the current situation reversed immediately, and to have the orchard brought up to the necessary safety standards, while an application is made for capital funding to have the Nursing home rebuilt. This plan makes economic sense and would provide the best care for all the residents."