Asgard Lodge deals with HIQA concerns

A SPOKESPERSON for an Arklow nursing home has indicated that recommendations included in a HIQA report published last week have been taken on board and the company is now fully compliant.

HIQA published a report into Asgard Lodge Nursing Home last week which detailed seven non-compliances out of 32 categories inspected.

‘It would be a poor inspection that didn’t find anywhere to improve on but there is a lot of positivity included in it also,’ the spokesperson outlined.

Non-compliance was recorded in areas including staffing, governance and management, records, premises and risk management and the announced inspection was carried out over two days on August 22 and 23, 2018.

Under the category of records, Asgard Lodge was required to have records of fire drills available for inspection.

Since the inspection, the nursing home outlined that it has conducted numerous fire drills and that staff training was provided.

While the report indicated that HIQA was satisfied with resources and the management structure, the inspector found that there was no evidence of formal management meetings, despite being informed that they met regularly.

Under the category of premises, the inspector outlined that the design and layout of the premises did not fully meet the needs of residents.

The raised issues including the layout of some twin bedrooms, insufficient storage, the lack of a call bed in a quiet room known as ‘The Snug’ and that handrails were not in place on both sides of a ramp on one corridor.

In its action plan, Asgard Lodge confirmed that all of these issues have now been addressed.

Following non-compliance under risk management, in relation to a ramp in the flooring on a corridor used by residents and to enclosed external gardens, and the location of a fire hose on a wall in a corridor to an enclosed external garden, management said that formal safety training was arranged for staff and that a contractor was engaged to assess the ramps with work later carried out to remove them.

The report outlined that care plans were developed and contained information that was person-centred and reflected residents’ individual wishes and preferences regarding how they wanted their needs met, but the inspector advised that some improvement was required in relation to the detail to be included in these plans.

It was noted that residents’ families were consulted regarding care plan development and review.

The report found that the provision of meaningful activities for residents required improvement, in response to which Asgard Lodge has engaged an activity coordinator and conducted staff training in this regard.

A second television and headphones were also offered to residents in twin rooms, so they could watch their preference of programme at any time.