HSE-run care home criticised by inspectors

SEVERAL “unacceptable practices” have been uncovered by inspectors at a HSE-operated nursing home.

In their report on the operation of the 146-bed St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis, Co Clare, Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) inspectors raised questions over the use of restraints, the safety of residents and the building itself.

Built on the site of a former workhouse in the 1960s, the inspectors state the HSE “was aware the building was structurally unsuitable and did not comply with legal requirements yet there was no plan in place to address these issues.”