Feb 06 - BREAKING NEWS: Giraldi Report Published – Chairman Rejects Majority Of Allegations And Is Highly Critical Of Joanna Hernandez
The Dr Giraldi Inquiry Report, an extensive investigation into allegations of abuse, mismanagement and malpractice at the Dr Giraldi Care Home, has been made public this afternoon.
The report, totaling almost 700 pages, concludes that although there were some instances of mismanagement, misconduct and malpractice, these were “infrequent and at the lower end of the scale of seriousness.”
After hearing the testimony of many witnesses and reading detailed documentary evidence, the Chairman of the Inquiry Sir Jonathan Parker - an experienced Court of Appeal judge - decided that many of the allegations in the witness statements provided by the former Manager of the Home, Joanna Hernandez, were “untrue, grossly exaggerated or unsubstantiated by credible evidence.”
General Conclusions of the Report:
- There were some instances of mismanagement, misconduct and malpractice (including abuse) at the Home, but they were “infrequent and at the lower end of the scale of seriousness.”
- Many of the allegations in the witness statements filed on behalf of Joanna Hernandez in the Industrial Tribunal in 2006 were “untrue, grossly exaggerated or unsubstantiated by credible evidence.”
- To the extent that such allegations were established on the evidence, the incidents in question were “largely historic and infrequent, and had been dealt with at the time by management at the Home, and/or by the SSA.”
- There was “no conspiracy” to prevent such allegations being investigated or being put into the public domain. The decisions taken by the relevant authorities (including the Royal Gibraltar Police) in relation to such allegations were “justified.”
- There were issues as to management and as to the provision of facilities that needed tackling. Shortage of staff was also a continuing problem. However the Home has gradually improved during the period under review and especially after 2005/6 in terms of staffing, procedures, working practices and impact on care.
Throughout the report, Sir Jonathan is highly critical of Ms Hernandez saying that, when she took up employment at the Home as its Manager, she was inexperienced and “seriously lacking in ‘effective people skills’”.
Sir Jonathan rejects the majority of her allegations one by one. He describes the claim Ms Hernandez made in relation to staff at the Home not giving priority to caring for residents as a “travesty of the truth and an insult to the efforts of dedicated members of staff.”
Sir Jonathan is similarly condemnatory of the “covert exercise” Ms Hernandez undertook to collect information critical of two co-workers in a bid to have them fired. The campaign, he concludes, “was nothing short of a disgrace,” adding that he agrees with a co-worker’s description of it as a “witch hunt.”
With reference to staff morale at the Home during her time as manager, Sir Jonathan says that Ms Hernandez’s “bullying manner often resulted in members of staff not turning up for work or taking time off work due to stress.”
The Inquiry was established in October 2012 by the Government of Gibraltar.
The main hearing of the Inquiry took place in public over seventeen days in October 2013, and a further two days in December 2013.
In the course of the hearing, the Inquiry heard evidence from a total of 63 witnesses, including Minister Joe Bossano, Sir Peter Caruana and the Attorney- General.
