20 CARE CENTRES RAPPED IN REPORT
Probes find breaches by homes & hospitals
MORE than 40% of care homes in Ireland have been slammed in a report for being in breach of health regulations.
The Health Information and Quality Authority investigated 49 residential centres for older people around Ireland.
Inspectors found evidence of good practice and compliance with regulations and standards in 29 centres.
But in 20 centres the provider failed to ensure services were effectively monitored in line with regulations and standards.
Beneavin Lodge in Dublin was found to be in breach of six regulations, including agency staff not receiving an induction, little activity provided for residents and poor maintenance of residents’ equipment.
Inspectors, who made an unannounced visit earlier this year, said a number of residents and their families expressed concerns about management of staff and the regular use of agency carers to cover vacancies and absences.
The report also said: “Families reported that there was a lack of continuity of care for their relatives and they often found it difficult to obtain accurate information about residents’ health and well-being from staff on duty when they visited. “Family members told inspectors that Beneavin
when they raised concerns about staffing and other issues, staff and managers dealt with the issue at the time but their complaint was not fully resolved and the same problems would recur again.
“Families and residents said that they did not know who was responsible for managing complaints in the centre.”
There were also concerns that there needed to be more activities as residents were spending long periods of time with “little to do” and no access to “meaningful activity”.
Inspectors at St Ita’s Community Hospital in Newcastlewest, Limerick, discovered there was an infectious outbreak at the time of their visit. They said that despite the centre being generally clean there was evidence of “inadequate” infection control.
The report added: “While hand-hygiene audits were taking place regularly, a substantial number of staff had not received current training in infection prevention and control.
“Circumstances that could contribute to compromised infection control arrangements included the continued practice of multi-task attendants undertaking duties in relation to both cleaning and personal care in the course of a shift.”
It also found Garda vetting disclosures were not available.