Ballyconnell nursing home beds fear

Any threat to remove a number of beds from the Breffni Care Nursing Home in Ballyconnell by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) will be strenuously resisted according to Cllr. Peter McVitty. It has been brought to his attention that the authority is claiming that beds are too close to each other in nursing homes like the one in Ballyconnell and it was making for difficult working conditions for staff. "I have never heard any complaint from staff, the people in the home or visitors to the Ballyconnell nursing home that the beds are too close to each other. "It is a very fine nursing home and is run to a very high standard and there has never been any talk about overcrowding," said Cllr. McVitty. He revealed that there are 30 beds in the nursing home and that includes five respite and 25 full-time beds. The fear that beds may be removed also pertains in the Virginia Centre. Cllr. McVitty said he will be keeping a close eye on the HSE nursing homes to ensure there are no beds taken away out of the blue. "I am really irate at the fact that this authority appears to be so concerned about this issue, when one considers that when you go into the A&E in Cavan General, the beds are pushed on top of each other. There are beds in corridors and they are pushed out of the A&E to the outpatients area. Why is this authority not addressing this issue instead of focusing on nursing homes that are functioning very well," said an irate Cllr. McVitty. Many of those beds being used in the corridor in Cavan General are only trolleys and there is no privacy, he added. The Fine Gael representative said that these nursing homes were designed to comfortably accommodate the number of beds in situ. "Now some geniuses out there are coming up with the idea of removing some of the beds. It is totally wrong and does not make any sense," said Cllr. McVitty. He said they requested a meeting with a Brendan Casey who is over the relevant section pertaining to this issue at the February meeting of Cavan County Council. "I have not heard anything back on the issue since. I am seeking urgent clarification on the matter". Councillor McVitty says he is personally aware of people looking to get into the Nursing Home in Ballyconnell and he wishes to contradict anyone making a contrary statement.