Dunmurry Manor one year on

One year on from a damning investigation into failings in Dunmurry Manor care home, 'real changes have still not been made.'

Sinn Fein MLA Colm Gildernew made the claims on the anniversary of a shocking report.

The damning investigation by the Commissioner for Older People Eddie Lynch said elderly residents in the care home were subject to 'inhumane and degrading treatment.'

It also said there was evidence of both physical and sexual abuse.

Dunmurry Manor which is owned by Runwood Homes, specialises in dementia care for the elderly.

Two years after it opened in 2014, families and whistle-blowers raised concerns and a review was launched.

A criminal investigation also began.

Sinn Fein MLA Colm Gildernew says a year after the findings were published, families of residents and politicians are worried about the lack of progress:

"Well, the Department of Health haven't fully brought their Action Plan forward yet," he said.

"The CPEA are still working on the independent review. They are currently meeting with families and giving the families input into that so our issue with that is that it is not fully developed yet."

"We are...one year on from Dunmurry and unfortunately recently, the Commissioner for Older People Eddie Lynch has written to families to say that he hasn't received full answers back in relation to over 400 areas that are under question.

"We would be concerned that it's starting to drag on.

"It's a full year now, there's need to be a focus on resolving issues arising from Dunmurry Manor."

Downtown Cool FM contacted the Commissioner to provide an update.

Mr Lynch said while the delay is frustrating, real change can be a slow process:

"Since my Home Truths report came out a year ago, myself and my team have been very busy analysing the over 400 responses from the different authorities, in response to the recommendations.

"That's been a complicated and complex process.

"I have gone back seeking further information from authorities because I need to be assured that all the actions being taken... are meeting the findings of the report and ensuring that real action is being taken on the ground to fix the problems that the investigation highlighted.

"Many of the recommendations are wider than Dunmurry Manor, they actually call for systemic change right across the system and that takes time."

In a statement a spokesperson for the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority said:

"The report into care at Dunmurry Manor Care Home published last year highlighted shortcomings in care at the home and made a series of recommendations for health and social care organisations.

"In 2018, RQIA submitted its actions to address the recommendations to the Department of Health, who coordinated a response on behalf of all HSC organisations.

"RQIA is committed to ensuring learning from this investigation report. The safety and wellbeing of everyone living at Dunmurry Manor is of paramount importance to RQIA.

"The service achieved compliance with RQIA enforcement almost two years ago, and we continue to monitor this home through our ongoing inspection and regulatory activities."

In a statement, the Department of Health said: "The Department has taken the issues arising from Dunmurry Manor Care Home extremely seriously and we are awaiting the outcome of the independent review from CPEA which we commissioned.

"We are committed to ongoing engagement with families to ensure that all lessons are learned from this."

• Dunmurry Manor