Security reviewed at Castleblayney nursing home after break-in

The HSE carried out a security review after a break-in at a Castleblayney nursing home when a window was left open.
At the March regional health forum, councillors were informed of the November break-in at the Drumlin Unit, St Mary’s Hospital, Castleblayney.
At around 1.15am on November 27 staff discovered a man on their unit who had gained unauthorised entry. On being discovered he immediately left through the back door of the unit.
“There is no evidence that residents or their belongings were disturbed by the man in question and all were found to be sleeping peacefully,” a HSE report stated.
Gardaí and a forensic team attended the scene.
“A review of the security systems was carried out at St Mary’s Hospital with a view to minimising the risk of recurrence of an incident such as this and of security generally.
“The review meeting concluded that the major contributory factor to the incident occurring was that a window was left open. How this window came to be open could not be identified,” the report stated.
It was issued after a request by Councillor Brian McKenna for full details of the incident.
A range of security procedures were tightened up and councillors were told:
“Management considered the incident as extremely serious in terms of having potential serious safety implications for residents and the staff on duty. Staff on duty on the night acted appropriately in the calm and professional manner with which they dealt with the incident.
“Management are satisfied that the revised security measures put in place as outlined above will minimise considerably the risk of a similar incident recurring.”