Disability centre improperly charged residents for services

Residents at a disability centre in Louth have been reimbursed after an inspection found they had been inappropriately charged thousands of euro from their own personal funds for basic services and equipment.

Health watchdog Hiqa found that even though the service provider at the St John of God North East Services in Greenmount began a financial review into the matter in August 2015, “there was still evidence of inappropriate practices as recently as May 2016”.

The inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) was one of 25 reports on residential centres for people with disabilities published yesterday.