THE HSE HAS announced the appointment of an external safeguarding expert following a review into what’s been described as a “serious sexual assault” at a HSE-run nursing home.

Jackie McIlroy, an adult safeguarding expert from Northern Ireland, will examine issues relating to the “Emily” case, as well as looking at HSE safeguarding more broadly.

McIlroy has worked in social care services in the North for close to four decades and will report directly to HSE CEO Bernard Gloster.

In 2020, a healthcare worker at the nursing home was jailed for 11 years for raping a resident known by the pseudonym of “Emily”.

A report on the incident by the National Independent Review Panels (NIRP) has been viewed by RTÉ News.

The report found nine other residents had also alleged incidents of sexual assault by the same healthcare worker, but none of the incidents were followed up in accordance with HSE safeguarding policy.

This report has not yet been published by the HSE and its CEO said there is a court order prohibiting the identification of the facility and of the victim.

However, Gloster told RTÉ’s This Week that the HSE will publish “an appropriate summary” of this report in the future.

Speaking during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil this week, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the review into the handling of the case “uncovered that other residents have made allegations against this same healthcare assistant in the past”.

However, McDonald said these “serious allegations were not followed up with a safeguarding report, and some were dismissed as residents being confused or hallucinating”.

In its review into the nursing home, the National Independent Review Panel issued nine recommendations and McDonald told the Dáil that “these must be implemented without delay”.

McDonald explained: “They include the establishing of a working group to examine and reform how residential facilities for older people operate, and to ensure that they are in line with international best practice.

“It includes putting in place a staff awareness campaign to ensure that older people who are victims of sexual abuse are believed and that safeguard allegations are always taken seriously.

“It also recommends better management of patient’s notes to ensure concerns or signs of abuse are recorded and identified.”

Responding to McDonald in the Dáil, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described the “Emily” case as a “hugely distressing and shocking affair” and added that it “strikes terror into the heart of anyone living in a nursing home or anyone who has a loved one in a nursing home”.

Varadkar said the man who committed the assaults was “imprisoned by the cognitive clarity and emotional strength of Emily, who testified against him and has since passed on”.

The Taoiseach said the review found that warning signs were missed, and that allegations were not followed up by staff in line with HSE safeguarding policies.

However, Varadkar noted that “we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that there were safeguarding policies in place and they were not followed”.

He added that these policies include a “zero tolerance approach that requires staff to report all concerns”.

Speaking today, HSE CEO Bernard Gloster apologised to Emily’s family for the trauma and distress that she and they have suffered.

He added: “I am not satisfied we yet fully understand all of the issues in this facility or indeed those arising in the wider care context and that is why I have asked Jackie McIlroy to undertake two specific tasks.”

These tasks are to review the NIRP report and for McIlroy to advise the HSE “if a further examination of individual records is required in the context of identifying past harm”.

McIlroy is expected to report to the HSE in relation to this within six weeks.

McIlroy has also been tasked conducting a “high-level review of the HSE safeguarding policy, procedures, and structures”.

She will then advise the HSE on possible options for the future of safeguarding, and it’s expected that this review will be completed within 16 weeks.

“It is critical at so many levels that we close out any questions in this individual home, and of equal importance that we completely overhaul and future-proof our entire approach to safeguarding vulnerable adults,” said Gloster.

He added: “This week the HSE will also engage further with a number of families of residents of this individual home to update them on safeguarding considerations for their loved ones, many now deceased. 

“This will be done in a respectful and supportive manner at a pace entirely determined by families. 

“The HSE intends to publish appropriate information when we are satisfied that we have achieved the best level of outcome possible for people involved and when we have considered further the legal parameters.”