Concerns raised over patient safety in disability centres

Serious concerns over patient safety in a number of HSE-run disability centres have been raised.

In a series of reports, inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) highlighted a range of failings in four HSE-run centres in Cork, Donegal, Kilkenny, and Westmeath.

In unannounced inspections in May and June at St Raphael’s in Cork, inspectors found that one resident had made 15 complaints of physical abuse in less than a month and that these had not been correctly followed up.