Hiqa critical of drug delays

Health watchdog Hiqa has criticised some nursing homes after inspections revealed that, in some cases, residents are receiving medicines just 90 minutes apart due to delays in administering the doses.

Major issues were detected at St Mary’s Centre Nursing Home at the St Mary’s Centre on Merrion Rd in Dublin 4, with the report noting: “Inspectors observed that the duration of the medication ‘round’ adversely affected the ability of nurses to administer medication within the recommended timeframe for medication efficacy and safety.”

According to the report by the Health Information and Quality Authority: “It was found by inspectors that medications which were prescribed for administration at 8am were not being administered until up to 2.5 hours later.”

Factors included non-replacement of nursing staff, late replacement of care staff, and frequent interruptions where nurses had to go to the assistance of residents throughout the administration process, leading to problems for residents.

“One resident received medicines to manage symptoms associated with their condition two hours after the prescribed time and the next administration was due just over two hours later,” the report stated.

“In the case of a resident who had received analgesia prescribed for 8am and not administered until after half past 10, this person was prescribed a second analgesia at 12 midday. Instead of the required four hours between each administration there were only one and a half.”

Other issues were also highlighted at the centre, including how “a high risk to some residents’ overall health outcomes was found where it was noted that due to their recurrent behaviours, some residents were losing sleep, were very unsteady on their feet, and were frequently falling. High levels of recurrent falls were not managed appropriately.”

Issues were also detected at the Maynooth Lodge Nursing Home at Crinstown, Maynooth, Co Kildare, where medications prescribed for one resident at noon were not administered until 5pm. The inspector was informed that this had been sanctioned by a more senior member of staff but “there was no documented evidence that the prescriber had agreed to this changed administration time”.

See: hiqa.ie