HIQA criticises number of agency staff at care centre

MORE than one-third of the staff working at a secure centre for troubled teenagers are agency staff — a practice that has been heavily criticised by the Health and Information Quality Authority (HIQA).

Gleann Alainn, which is located on the grounds of an old psychiatric hospital just outside Cork city, caters for young people with serious behaviour issues. They are placed there on foot of a High Court order.

According to figures from the HSE, eight of the 28 people working at the facility are agency staff.

Furthermore, last year, a total of 619 sick days were taken by the 28 members of staff.

HIQA, which inspects secure care centres, in an inspection report from December said agency staff members were used on a regular basis to address shortfalls in staffing levels.

Inspectors noted the reliance on temporary staff members was of “serious concern”.

At that time, six members of staff were agency workers and the acting unit manager told HIQA the unit was short staff due to sick leave and maternity leave. This has now risen to eight.

HIQA inspectors said: “The high number of agency staff members, the lack of a resilient management structure, the lack of a shift co-ordinator, poorly attended staff meetings all contributed to inconsistent practice and poor communication.

“These factors should be addressed immediately by the National Special Care and High Support Management Team and HSE South.”

Staff of such care centres — others are Coovagh House in Limerick and Ballydowd in Dublin — have been the subject of attacks by young people, which can led to prolonged sick leave. The young people in placements often exhibit aggressive behaviour ranging from verbal abuse of staff to actual physical assaults.

The reported also stated one child was in their fifth special care placement while another had two placements in Gleann Alainn in 2010.

Despite the staffing issues, HIQA pointed to the fact there was evidence the staff focused on their positive relationships with the children in managing challenging behaviour. There were a low number of restraints, single separations and unauthorised absences. Each child had an individual crisis management plan that identified triggers for each child and the best ways to manage a child when they begin to get angry and aggressive.

Elsewhere, Limerick’s Coovagh House closed last month for the summer period so that essential refurbishment work could take place over the course of about 10 weeks.

According to the HSE, during this time, staff will be assigned to other specialised units with the exception of three weeks when staff will attend crisis intervention training.