'Abuse and neglect' at nursing home in Portlaoise: Former staff member speaks out

A former staff member of The Residence, Portlaoise, who had to leave her job due to ‘mental stress’, said she was in tears watching RTÉ’s investigation into the facility.

Health care assistant Justine Hibberd spoke to the Leinster Express/ Laois Live about her experience working at the Laois nursing home where 'abuse and neglect' of residents has been exposed.

Ms Hibberd alleges that staff received ‘no support’ from management, and that the moving of residents was handled incorrectly ‘every day, morning to night’.

“I cried when I watched the documentary. I found it difficult because I knew who the residents and staff were, it was upsetting to see that nothing has changed,” Ms Hibberd said.

Pictured: Former worker at The Residence Portlaoise, Justine Hibberd

She began working at The Residence Portlaoise in September of 2023, and handed in her notice in 2024 due to the ‘mental stress’ in the position.

“I handed in my notice in February last year, I couldn’t take it any more. What was shown in the documentary didn't even touch the surface of the issues in The Residence Portlaoise. I only worked domestic duties, but the things that I saw there were shocking,” she claimed.

“I saw residents moved by staff incorrectly every day, morning to night. People that were supposed to be moved with hoists were lifted by their waistbands and under their arms, they were shimmied down the corridors. They would move residents in the day room under their arms,” she alleged.

“Every day there was a safety meeting, and safety pauses at 12pm to discuss safety issues and how residents were handled,” she said.

While working in The Residence Portlaoise, daily tasks undertaken by Ms Hibberd included the cleaning of public areas and resident’s rooms.

“I cleaned 28 rooms a day. The things that I saw happen there should never have happened. I raised concerns, and I was told to just do my job,” she alleges.

“Not all of the staff are bad, some of them are working up against the issues, and they work so hard. One of my good friends still works there, and she says that they are all feeling the pressure and backlash from the documentary. But what can they do? They aren’t all bad, but there’s a huge amount of workers that don’t care.”

Ms Hibberd alleges that while working night shifts in The Residence Portlaoise, there was evidence that health care assistants would turn off the resident’s call bells.

Pictured: The Residence Portlaoise

“I have seen it and been told by some health care assistants themselves,” Ms Hibberd claimed.

“At night, they disconnect the call buttons for some of the residents, for a quiet and easy night. They go and sleep in the empty bedrooms on the third floor. It’s disgusting,” she said.

As a cleaner, Ms Hibberd claims that she regularly saw residents ‘double padded’.

“At night, to make it easier, healthcare assistants would put a towel under the resident’s sheet, and a bag beneath that they could rip out in the morning. It’s not good,” she said.

“There wasn’t really a shortage of supplies. In the pad rooms, the supplies were divided into two sides: the HSE side and the private side,” she explained.

“The HSE side was managed better, they always had more supplies. They had more pads, wipes, shower gels and shaving foams- the private side, not so much.

“There was a definite difference in the levels of care. A lot of HSE patients came from hospitals after a fall or a surgery, they always seemed to be a bit better minded,” she said.

Ms Hibberd claims that she was reprimanded by management for allowing paramedics access to the building.

Watch above: a trailer for RTÉ Investigates 'Inside Ireland's Nursing Homes'

“I got in trouble one morning. I was in on a morning shift, and an ambulance turned up to take a resident into hospital,” she said.

“They were standing at the door ringing the doorbell, so I let them in, this was around 8:10am.

“Half an hour later, alarms went off in the nursing home and people were all running around. I asked what was happening, and my colleagues told me that a resident was missing.

“I asked which resident, and when they told me, I explained that she had been brought to the hospital,” Ms Hibberd claims.

“I was brought in to the person in charge, who explained that the ambulance crew had waited in the resident’s room for over 27 minutes, and no member of staff came in.

“They decided to just take her to the hospital, and the hospital rang The Residence to say that anyone could have come in and taken a resident. I got in trouble for allowing the paramedics into the building in the first place,” Ms Hibberd alleges.

When asked whether she felt supported by management in her former role, Ms Hibberd said that they had ‘no heart.’

Pictured above: An RTÉ Investigates poster advertising their latest exposé into Irish nursing homes

“When I handed my notice in and told them I was leaving, I said it was because it was too tough mentally. There were people falling and left on the floor,” she said.

The final straw for Ms Hibberd was an incident where a patient was left ‘filthy’ on Christmas Day.

“On Christmas day, there was a resident who arranged to go out with his family, the family specified they wanted him up and dressed for dinner,” she said.

“When the family came in to get him, his daughter couldn't find him. They had him down in the dining area and they were already feeding him, and he was filthy. She stood there and cried,” Ms Hibberd alleges.

“She told them that he was filthy, and that because they were feeding him, he won’t eat his Christmas dinner. I saw the look on her face and she seemed heartbroken. The person in charge just stood with her hands on her hips. He hadn't even been shaved,” she said.

The health care assistant also expressed that The Residence itself was clean, with excellent food provided to residents.

“The food was always lovely, but the health care assistants were told they only had 20 minutes to feed the residents,” Ms Hibberd claimed.

“Many of the residents may have taken 40 or 45 minutes to eat, I know that from my own experience as a carer,” she said.
Ms Hibberd has said that what she experienced in the nursing home was ‘heartbreaking’.

“For some patients, they didn't really understand what was going on. They didn’t understand what abuse is, and abuse isn't. My heart breaks for the families, a lot of the residents are aware, but some didn't understand,” she said.

The Leinster Express has contacted Emeis Ireland for comment on the incidents alleged by Ms Hibberd. Emeis Ireland has yet to respond to these allegations.

In a press release on Friday June 6, Emeis Ireland have said that the footage which aired on the RTE Investigates programme was both 'shocking and unacceptable' and 'unquestionably equated to poor and abusive practice'.

"Emeis Ireland has taken appropriate safeguarding actions in relation to residents and specific actions in relation to staff and a full organisational review is underway. These incidents were not representative of the professionalism and commitment of our employees in Ireland, nor of the everyday life in our facilities," they stated.

"We reiterate our deep regret and disappointment in respect of the matters uncovered by the programme."