Care resident ‘struggled to breathe’ during restraint

A Meath care home for intellectually disabled adults has been ordered to cease admissions because of serious concerns about overuse of physical restraint including an incident where a resident turned blue from lack of oxygen.

Chemical restraint — where residents were injected with medication to subdue them during episodes of challenging behaviour — was also used at Redwood Extended Care Facility in Stamullen, but was not notified as required to the Health Information and Quality Authority.

Redwood did notify Hiqa of 772 incidents of physical restraint within an 11-month period, of which 184 related to a single individual.