The State’s healthcare regulator raised “significant concerns” about all nursing homes run by private company Aperee Living, which cares for about 500 vulnerable residents, warning some of its care homes were in “crisis”.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) warned that Aperee was facing a “rapidly escalating situation” in recent weeks, which has since led the regulator to move to shut three of the company’s nursing homes.
Internal records show Hiqa accused Aperee of failing to engage “honestly and transparently” with the regulator, in response to criticism of management and governance shortcomings.
Correspondence from Hiqa also outlined fears that at least one further nursing home run by Aperee did not have enough money to stay afloat.
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In a September 13th meeting, Hiqa told Aperee that senior staff running individual nursing homes were the “only reason” those facilities remained open.
The healthcare watchdog said it had received “serious concerns” from Aperee staff that financial pressures would leave some nursing homes with “no money left” to run the facilities.
Correspondence and minutes of meetings between Hiqa and Aperee were released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act.
Three of the ten nursing homes Aperee run have been ordered to close by Hiqa since September, over fears for the safety of residents.
In each case the Health Service Executive (HSE) has stepped in to take over the nursing home until residents can be moved to new care homes.
Last week the company’s nursing home in Callan, Co Kilkenny, was the latest facility to have its registration cancelled by Hiqa, following similar orders to shut Aperee homes in Ballygunner, Co Waterford and Belgooly, Co Cork.
Documents show Hiqa raised concern about a fourth home, Aperee Living Camp, in Tralee, which it said appeared to be under serious financial pressure.
In a September 12th letter, Hiqa said it understood the Co Kerry nursing home had not received State funding under the Fair Deal support scheme for two months, due to a “failure” to pay outstanding Revenue bills.
In a further letter later that month, Hiqa said it had received information that Aperee Living Camp did not have “sufficient funds to sustain the day-to-day operation” of the care home.
Correspondence from Hiqa also stated that Aperee Living Callan, the Co Kilkenny home the HSE has since taken over, did not have tax clearance, meaning it could not receive State funding.
In response, Aperee told officials it was in the process of addressing issues around the Revenue bills and tax certificates.
The nursing home group was set up by Cork-based investments firm BlackBee Group, with its founder, Cork businessman David O’Shea, the sole director of Aperee.
Documents show Hiqa had threatened to shut Aperee’s home in Ballygunner, Co Waterford, as far back as July, due to doubts about the fitness of the provider to run the facility, as well as “increasing concern” for the welfare of residents.
The HSE was asked to take over the home from Aperee in mid-September, at which point some of the residents living there were “very frail from a nutritional perspective”, Hiqa told health officials.
Aperee did not respond to a series of questions about the recent correspondence and meetings with Hiqa.
