Admissions halted at Kildare care home

A CARE home in Kildare has been banned from taking any further admissions until all recommendations made following an inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) are met.

HIQA made three visits to the Dunshane centre for adults in a 12 month period with a learning disability between September and January, and were seeking to cancel its registration due to “persistent noncompliance” and “poor governance”.

The rural campus in Brannockstown between Kilcullen and the Wicklow border has a capacity for 18 residents, although it only had 14 at the time of inspection.

According to the report filed last week, inspectors were concerned with continued poor practices found in the critical areas of risk management and premises, which included finding three full bottles of alcohol on site.

The inspectors also found broken glass and food remains outside the patio doors of one apartment.

The item had apparently been thrown from an upstairs apartment and landed on the step.

“The risks of injury should a resident have been sitting here and being struck were not considered, nor was the risk associated with material left on the ground where it could be accessed by residents without having been cleared,” the report said.

Staff stated that they did not realise that alcohol was available within this apartment, nor was there clarity on how this was stored or accessed by the resident.

“This was of particular concern as the resident was risk assessed for throwing and breaking items.” Outside one premises, a wooden porch was in poor condition, sagged underfoot and had a protruding screw sticking out.

“This presented a risk of harm from the screw and the wooden patch, of tripping and of falling,” it added.

HIQA also highlighted concerns around staffing levels, describing it as a “significant area of concern”.

“The ongoing staffing deficit continued to impact on the provider’s ability to provide consistent care and support for residents,” the report said.

At the time of inspection, the centre was found to be understaffed, operating with 17 whole-time equivalents against an assessed requirement of 40.

“The deficit contributed to an ongoing heavy reliance on agency staffing,” it added.

A former staff member was highly critical of the facility in an anonymous complaint to HIQA.

“Very bad pay, not much structure, and management are unsupportive,” they said.

“Lovely clients, but no breaks and very short-staffed all the time”.

Due to the “persistent noncompliance” and poor governance by the provider to meet residents’ needs, the inspector issued a section 51 notice of decision to cancel the centre’s registration in January.

The provider appealed the decision to cancel the centre’s registration under the Health Act 2007.

Through an order of the district court, an additional three restrictive conditions were attached to the registration of the centre, including that the provider ensures no new residents are admitted in the event of vacancies arising until HIQA is satisfied with compliance.

“The centre continues to be registered and the chief inspector continues to closely monitor the centre,” Hiqa added.