Mixed reactions in Roscrea to plans for Dean Maxwell Home's future

Proclaimed by some Tipperary Dáil representatives to be a lifeline securing the future of the Dean Maxwell Community Nursing Home in Roscrea - there has been a less than positive reaction locally to new plans for the facility's future.

“Unsatisfactory” is how John Lupton, Chairman of the Roscrea Community Development Council (RCDC) described the plans to the Tribune.

He said that judging from reports of the meeting between the Minister for Older People Mary Butler, some public representatives and HSE officials, it would appear that the “outcome is unsatisfactory to us in RCDC and would, we would think, be so to the people of Roscrea”.

The problem is it does not contain a commitment for the provision of a long term stay facility for people of Roscrea and District, Mr. Lupton argues, who require, and will in future require long term community nursing care.

“However, we realise that there was some positivity from the meeting and we would be willing and anxious to meet with the Minister with respect to the need to secure and continue the Dean Maxwell’s long term stay facility for the people of Roscrea. In this regard we welcome the Minister’s reported willingness to meet with us.

“We believe that the people of Roscrea are primarily concerned that those who need long term community nursing home care now, and in the future, should be able to seek same in their own community of belonging (i.e. Roscrea) and must not have to be relocated 20 miles away from family and friends”, Mr. Lupton said.

Last week Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary, Jackie Cahill announced he has secured a commitment from the Fianna Fáil Minister for Older People, Mary Butler that the Dean Maxwell Home “has a future in Roscrea”.

Deputy Cahill said he received an extensive briefing from Minister Butler, where she confirmed that a new dementia unit and respite unit would be delivered for Roscrea and surrounding areas on a green field site.

“The Fianna Fáil Minister has agreed to the delivery of a new unit on a greenfield site, that will see the establishment of a dementia unit and a respite unit”, Deputy Cahill said.

“Some 70% of nursing home residents have dementia, so this facility will certainly cater for many of those already in long term nursing home care, and will also provide a vital resource locally for many years to come.

“The respite beds are a vital component of care for the elderly, and ensure that facilities are available for people who need them, and for carers to get a short, well-earned break from their caring duties.

“We are banking this very good news that means that the future of Dean Maxwell is secured for Roscrea, as we have been working hard to do since Fianna Fáil entered government in the Summer of 2020. Now our work will continue to push for the inclusion of long term beds in this brand-new, state of the art facility for Roscrea and surrounding areas”, he said.

“The Minister has also agreed to engage further with local groups in relation to the future of Dean Maxwell, and both Cllr Michael Smith and myself will continue to work to make sure that the voice of the people of Roscrea continues to be heard”, the Tipperary Fianna Fáil TD said.

However, Deputy Michael Lowry was critical of the plans and said that although the HSE proposed welcome services for Roscrea, they do not include the crucial long-stay beds component. 

Speaking following the meeting, Deputy Lowry said the HSE made it very clear from the onset of the meeting that the decision to transfer 25 long-stay beds from Dean Maxwell Community Nursing Home in Roscrea to the new elderly care unit in Nenagh will not be reversed.

“They were looking at the future in terms of delivering a new Health Care Campus for Roscrea. They spoke about the existing Dean Maxwell Site and said that it wasn’t practical or feasible to put further development there, as all that could happen on that site is refurbishment of the existing facilities that would continue without long-stay beds”, he told this newspaper.

“The HSE is in favour of moving to a different site, probably the Cre House site, and are proposing that this would include a Dementia Unit, a Day Centre, a Rehab Unit and a Short Stay Unit. Regrettably and unacceptably, in that plan there would be no inclusion of Long Stay beds.

“The HSE has agreed to distribute and furnish the proposals that they have and to hold a further meeting within the next couple of weeks to which local groups, such as RCDC and Age Action, will be invited to attend with the Minister to discuss the plans being put forward”, Deputy Lowry said.

“Long term beds for Roscrea has been the nub of the issue and I have made my feelings known about the way beds were transferred to by sleight of hand from Roscrea to justify the new unit in Nenagh. It was made very clear this morning that this decision would not be changed.

“We have made it very clear to them (the HSE) that we will be putting forward proposals that would include the new campus, which would be very welcome if it included long-stay beds. We have this on the table now so hopefully we can get a compromise in relation to it”, Deputy Lowry said.

Sinn Féin Tipperary TD Martin Browne was also critical of the plans and described the meeting with Minister Mary Butler and HSE officials on the Dean Maxwell as “deplorable in its dismissal of the community’s key demands”.

“Thursday’s meeting on the future of the Dean Maxwell began with Minister Butler and senior HSE representatives telling members from the outset that they were ‘not going to go over old ground again’ in relation to long stay beds at the Dean Maxwell and instead were going to focus on the other options they had decided upon”, Deputy Browne said.

“In adopting this dismissive attitude, Tipperary representatives were also fed the line that long stay capacity in North Tipperary was not being reduced, as they would be available in Nenagh instead.

“I find this attitude unacceptable and is indicative of how the needs and demands of the people of Roscrea are continuing to be ignored across the HSE and the Department of Health.

“People in need of long-term care want to be near their families and their loved ones. They want to remain in their community. The Minister and the HSE can present their intention to strip Roscrea of long-stay beds in whatever way they want, but the public knows the truth behind the spin.

“I welcome any measures that provide for independent living and wrap around services for people with dementia. Our communities need these facilities, and I wholeheartedly welcome such initiatives.

“But the fact remains; long stay care is needed in Roscrea. The people demand it, and the people know what their community needs. There are further issues of concern with the HSE’s report into the Dean Maxwell that I will discuss further with local stakeholders once the report has been analysed”, Deputy Browne said.