Family of woman who died in Cork nursing home during pandemic settles High Court case
Kathleen Thompson from Farranree, who died in Carechoice Nursing home, Ballynoe, during the pandemic.
The family of an 84-year old woman who died at a Cork nursing home during the Covid 19 pandemic has settled a High Court action over her death.
Kathleen Thompson from Farranree, Cork was a resident of the Carechoice Nursing Home, Ballynoe, when she tested positive for the virus on January 31 2021 and died the next day in the third Covid wave.
Her family is one of five families who lost loved ones to covid at the Cork nursing home who have brought landmark wrongful death actions in the High Court.
Counsel for Mrs Thompson’s family, Ray Motherway, told the High Court that the case had been settled against the nursing home and was before the court for the division of the statutory €35,000 mental distress payment only.
The details of the settlement are confidential. The settlement is without an admission of liability.
It has previously been reported that 24 residents of the 51-bed Ballynoe nursing home facility died during the covid-19 pandemic. Not all who passed away died from covid.
Mrs Thompson’s son, John Thompson of Whitechurch, had sued Carechoice Ballynoe Ltd with offices at Blanchardstown, Dublin which runs the Carechoice Nursing Home Ballynoe, Co Cork and the HSE over his mother’s death.
Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds noted the settlement of the action in relation to the death of Mrs Thompson with an order for costs against Carechoice Ballynoe Ltd.
The case against the HSE, was struck out.
In the Thompson proceedings it was claimed Mrs Thompson had been admitted to the Ballynoe nursing home in November 2019 with a medical history of dementia.
Throughout 2020, it was claimed she was the sole occupant of her room in the nursing home. Covid 19 it was claimed was first detected in the nursing home on January 6, 2021,when two residents tested positive for the virus.
On January 22, 2021, Mrs Thompson was tested for covid which turned out to be negative. She also received an initial dose of a Covid 19 vaccine.
It is claimed that two days later, a further 17 residents and twelve staff of the nursing home tested positive for the virus.
It is further claimed that on January 25, 2021, Mrs Thompson was transferred from her room to another room allegedly without her consent or the knowledge of her family.
On January 31, Mrs Thompson tested positive for Covid 19. At that stage it is claimed a further 24 residents and 26 staff of the nursing home tested positive for the virus. Mrs Thompson died the next day, on February 1, 2021.
In the proceedings it was claimed that by February 9,2021 a total of 46 residents of the nursing home tested positive for the virus and nineteen of them died.
In March, a Covid 19 infection and end stage Alzheimer’s dementia were certified as the cause of death for Mrs Thompson.
Last April a settlement was announced at the High Court relatingto the death of 81-year-old former Irish Distillers worker James Lee in the third covid wave in February 2021 at Ballynoe Nursing Home Mr Lee’s niece, Arlene Walsh of Carrignavar, Co Cork, had brought the proceedings and the settlement was also against the nursing home.
The 81-year-old had been a resident at the nursing home from October 2014.
Mr Lee had tested negative for covid but in another test on Janaury 31, 2021, he tested positive.
Two days later, he required oxygen to breathe and it was claimed he was deteriorating rapidly.
Mr Lee died alone on February 3, 2021.
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