asked the Minister for Health if he has seen recent reports regarding the mortality rate of inmates of Saint Joseph's Home, Stranorlar, County Donegal; if so, if he will make a statement on the matter; what proposals have been submitted to his Department by Donegal County Council for improvements to Saint Joseph's Home; how long these proposals are with his Department awaiting approval; what the reason is for the delay in giving approval; what was the number and dates of previous proposals submitted; and what action was taken on them by his Department.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - St. Joseph's Home, Stranorlar (Donegal).
39.
Unfortunately the Deputy's question is of such a nature as to demand a detailed reply which, notwithstanding my efforts to compress it, is somewhat lengthy. I should be glad, therefore, if I were permitted to treat the question as one for written answer so that the information may appear in the Official Report without its being necessary for me to trespass on the time of the House by reading it.
Following is the written answer:
I have seen some Press reports expressing concern at the mortality among elderly patients in the County Home, Stranorlar, during the recent cold spell. These reports referred to an allegation by a member of the Donegal County Council that there was an abnormally high death rate in the County Home during that period and that this was due to a lack of adequate heating facilities in the Institution.
The cold spell in the Donegal area, mentioned in the press reports, lasted, I understand, from the 25th December to 4th January, that is, for eleven days. The mean daily temperature at Malin Head, the nearest meteorological station, during the period ranged from 32.6 degrees to 38.4 degrees. The average of the daily means was 35.6 degrees. I have been informed by the local authority that four patients died in the County Home during that period. The ages of these four patients ranged from 77 to 90 years. During the corresponding eleven days in 1960/61 the temperatures were considerably higher. The lowest mean figure was 38.3 degrees and the average of the daily means was 41 degrees. During that period, five deaths occurred. Furthermore, I have been informed that during the whole of December and January last the number of deaths which occurred in this Institution, of about 200 beds, was 15, which figure was the lowest for these months for the last five years. It would appear from these figures, therefore, that recent mortality among patients in the Home is not abnormally high.
I am well aware that accommodation and facilities for the care of patients in the County Home, Stranorlar, are inadequate and unsatisfactory by modern standards. I am equally well aware that the present lack of proper heating facilities in that Institution can be a source of particular hardship to the old people there in very cold weather. Installation of an effective system of central heating, as part of the comprehensive scheme of improvements now being planned, will remedy the latter defect. The local authority, with my approval, have made some effort to improve the heating facilities in the meantime by the installation, about a year ago, of 20 electric heaters. An additional 14 heaters are at present being installed.
With regard to the Deputy's query as to the action taken by my Department in dealing with proposals for the general improvement of the County Home, I think it well to place the following facts on record.
Following the issue, in October, 1951, of the White Paper announcing the Government's proposals for a comprehensive programme of reconstruction and improvement of County Homes, the Donegal County Council, in common with other local authorities, undertook the preparation of a scheme for the improvement of their County Home. Agreement was reached on the future bed complement of the Home and draft plans for the reconstruction of the premises were submitted by the Council in July, 1956 when, unfortunately, the financial stringency, which occurred in the latter part of that year, intervened to cause a suspension of planning of county home schemes generally.
In March, 1959, due to the improved Exchequer position, I was able to authorise a resumption of planning of such schemes and my anxiety to press ahead with the Stranorlar project was conveyed to the local authority. The Council informed the Department in July, 1959, that they had decided on the preparation of a revised comprehensive scheme of improvements. Such a scheme was submitted by the local authority in May, 1960, but examination of it by the Department had to be suspended when the Council indicated in October, 1960, that they were concerned at the elaborate nature and cost of the scheme and that they intended to consider a smaller scheme.
The Department did not approve of the modified scheme adopted at the Council's meeting on the 30th January, 1961, as it would leave unremedied some of the grosser defects in the County Home. The Council were pressed in March, 1961, to proceed with the comprehensive scheme and they eventually agreed to do so. This scheme, suitably amended in accordance with suggestions made by the Department, was submitted by the local authority in August, 1961, but a final decision on it was held up until a report from the Council on the condition of the existing timber work was received. That report was received in the Department on 15th December, 1961. The scheme has now been generally approved and the Council have instructed their architect to prepare working drawings for the proposed new extension to the Home and new boilerhouse. The erection of these new units will comprise the first stage of the scheme and will facilitate the temporary evacuation of a section of the present accommodation to make way for the second stage—the reconstruction of the existing buildings.
It will be appreciated that planning the reconstruction and modernisation of structures like these County Homes, originally built over a century ago according to the very different standards then obtaining, is a matter of considerable technical difficulty. This has, no doubt, been a contributory cause of delay in the preparation of an acceptable scheme for the County Home at Stranorlar, but I should like to assure the Deputy that my Department will do everything possible to ensure that the scheme, the nature and scope of which has now been approved, will be speedily implemented with a view to providing a reasonable standard of accommodation and comfort for the patients there.
While, as I have said, conditions in the County Home are far from satisfactory and must be improved substantially, I think this reply might give an incorrect picture if it did not make mention of the enormous improvement in hospital accommodation which has been achieved in recent years by the joint efforts of the Donegal County Council and the Department of Health. Three entirely new hospitals have been provided, the County Hospital at Letterkenny, the District Hospital at Dungloe and the Sanatorium at Killybegs. The District Hospital at Carndonagh has been entirely reconstructed and major improvements have been carried out at other hospitals throughout the county. This represents a large programme in terms of planning and expenditure which deserves to be taken into account when dealing with the shortcomings of an institution to which it was not possible, for a variety of reasons, to give the priority which it merited.