Family of woman that died in Cork nursing home during pandemic settle High Court action

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, Co Cork when she tested positive for the virus on January 31st, 2021, and died the next day.

Her family is one of five who lost loved ones to Covid-19 at the Cork nursing home and who have brought landmark wrongful death actions in the High Court.

Ray Motherway, barrister for Thompson’s family instructed by PA Duffy & Co solicitors, told the court on Wednesday 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.

Details of the settlement are confidential and it 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 died from the virus.

Thompson’s son, John Thompson, of Whitechurch, Co Cork, had sued CareChoice Ballynoe Ltd, with offices at Blanchardstown, Dublin, which runs the CareChoice Nursing Home Ballynoe, Co Cork over his mother’s death. He also sued the Health Service Executive (HSE).

Judge Leonie Reynolds noted the settlement of the action in relation to the death of Thompson, with an order for costs against CareChoice Ballynoe Ltd.

The case against the HSE was struck out.

In the proceedings it was stated that 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. It was claimed Covid-19 was first detected in the nursing home on January 6th, 2021, when two residents tested positive.

On January 22nd, 2021, Thompson was tested for Covid-19, which turned out to be negative. She also received an initial dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

It was claimed that two days later, a further 17 residents and 12 staff of the nursing home tested positive.

It was further claimed that on January 25th, 2021, Thompson was transferred from her room to another room allegedly without her consent or the knowledge of her family.

On January 31st, 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. Thompson died the next day, on February 1st, 2021.

In the proceedings, it was claimed that by February 9th, 2021 a total of 46 residents of the nursing home tested positive for the virus and 19 of them died.

In March, a Covid-19 infection and end-stage Alzheimer’s dementia were certified as the cause of death for Thompson.

Last April a settlement was announced at the High Court relating to the death of 81-year-old former Irish Distillers worker James Lee in February 2021 at Ballynoe Nursing Home. -

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 from October 2014. In a test on January 31st, 2021, he tested positive for Covid-19.

Two days later, he required oxygen to breathe and it was claimed he was deteriorating rapidly. Lee died alone on February 3rd, 2021.