Hiqa questions management of allegations at Ballydowd

A new inspection report into the country’s main special care centre for children has found that allegations against staff were not always managed appropriately, although, in general, conditions at Ballydowd appear to be improving.

The residential special care unit in Dublin is a secure facility for boys and girls aged 11-17 detained there under a High Court care order. The inspection report, published yesterday by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa), found that Ballydowd met the required standard in 11 areas that were inspected and required improvement in 18 others, although, in many of those instances, good or improving practice was noted.

Hiqa identified one significant risk regarding the management of allegations against staff.

There were 25 complaints, all made by young people, recorded since the last inspection and Hiqa said the majority were managed appropriately. However, in seven cases relating to allegations made against staff members, inspectors found that the response was “inadequate”.

“While allegations were appropriately reported to the social work department, actions taken to ensure the safety of residents and staff during the process of investigation were insufficient and did not effectively safeguard children or staff members,” the report states.

Hiqa wrote to the acting national director for children’s residential services seeking assurances about the management of allegations against staff, and was assured the centre would conduct a review into the management of the allegations.

Ballydowd, home to five children at the time of the inspection last August, has been the subject of critical reports in the past, but Hiqa found positive developments while also highlighting some areas that needed improvement.

The report said that while there were sufficient staff numbers during the day, reduced staffing at night presented a challenge, with staff working later than scheduled in order to help colleagues manage incidents.

“In addition, managers and staff reported that due to reduced staffing, there was a reliance on An Garda Síochána to manage the safety of staff and young people when incidences escalated,” said the report.

It states that where there were ongoing concerns regarding behaviour at night, unit managers had requested on-call managers, who were also scheduled to work daytime hours, having already worked into the early hours of the morning.

The report notes there were 35 incidents of absconding from the unit since the last inspection, 22 of which related to two children. At the time of inspection, one young person was missing from care.

Jim Gibson, the chief operations officer of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, said the report illustrates the range of excellent practice and care for children in Ballydowd and that Tusla has committed to a range of initiatives to improve services in the centre.

These include multidisciplinary reviews of all single-occupancy placements within 72 hours of a child’s placement, new special care processes agreed with the High Court to support timely discharges, and a national child protection practice note for all children’s residential services, “which clarifies key responses where allegations are made about staff”.