Pre-Action Letters Issued Concerning COVID-19 in a County Antrim Care Home

We have issued pre action letters to a private care home, the Northern Health and Social Care Trust and Belfast Health and Social Care Trust in relation to the death of a resident who died after contracting Covid-19 in a County Antrim care home in or about April 2020.

The letters allege negligence and breach of statutory duty against the proposed defendants and our client is seeking to pursue an action pursuant to the Fatal Accident (NI) Order 1977.

Enda McGarrity, Solicitor at P.A Duffy and Company acting in this case, has said:

“We have been instructed to pursue various legal remedies by our client. This will include a fatal injuries claim, a request for a Coroner’s Inquest and a request for a fully complaint human rights public inquiry.

Our client is deeply concerned about the circumstances surrounding this death and in particular has raised issues around the standard of infection control practices and the discharge of untested patients from hospitals to care homes.

Care home residents are among the most vulnerable people in our society. The sheer scale of deaths amongst this one group is staggering and requires a proper investigation. The Executive have a duty under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights not only to protect the right to life but also to investigate the deaths which have occurred.

The only mechanism to properly discharge this duty is a full statutory public inquiry which allows the families of deceased care home residents to participate’.

Pre-Action Letters Issued Concerning COVID-19 in a County Antrim Care Home was last modified: March 27th, 2023 by Enda McGarrity