Hiqa urged to publish report amid concerns over prescription practices at care home

Hiqa stated that the report was never published because key people were on annual leave.

Hiqa has been asked to publish a report into a care home where so-called “chemical restraints” were allegedly used.

The report relates to an inspection in August 2017 into the Cluain Fhionnáin facility which was operated by the HSE in Killarney, Co Kerry, before it closed down.

The report was never published, with Hiqa later stating that this was because key people were on annual leave.

Speaking in the Seanad, Independent senator Dr Tom Clonan called for a probe into allegations about prescription practices at the home.

He also called on Hiqa to hand over to gardaí what he described as its “suppressed” draft inspection report on the centre, which the agency had categorised as “high risk”.

He said this was necessary because of the need to examine what he described as the use of so-called “chemical restraints” at the facility.

Dr Clonan referenced the fact that inspectors on a follow-up inspection were informed that a resident was taken off “medication used to block hormones”.

On the use of such medication, Dr Clonan said: “This is sometimes referred to as ‘chemical castration’ or ‘chemical incarceration’, to sedate persons with disabilities in a residential setting.

I'm calling for a Garda investigation into the prescribing regime and regime of care in Cluain Fhionnáin.”

Dr Clonan said he also wanted Hiqa to hand over “any evidence used to support” the draft 2017 report.

He said he was also calling on gardaí to interview all Hiqa staff involved with the inspection and subsequent draft report.

“I'm calling on Gardaí to investigate any possible concealment or destruction of evidence of any wrongdoing,” he said.

A HSE audit completed in October 2016 identified “concerns” in relation to the “levels” of medicines being used at the centre.

These included questions about the use of psychotropic medicines and other medicines being used for the management of challenging behaviour.

That same audit acknowledged that medicines were being used that “blocked the effect of hormones”.

Report 'could not be published'

When the Irish Examiner asked Hiqa in 2021 about the unpublished draft report on the August 2017 inspections, a spokesperson said: “While an inspection did take place, the draft report did not go through the due process that is applied to all inspection reports in advance of publication, including the provider's right of reply and opportunity to provide feedback on the content of the draft report.

Therefore the report could not be published.”

There has been an adjudication by the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) into a decision by Hiqa not to release records, including draft reports, in relation to the August 2017 inspection as requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

In its justification of why it “deactivated” the report, it stated that “key persons in the inspectors’ team were on leave”.

As a result, Hiqa told the OIC that “line management was not in a position to complete the quality check of the draft report within timelines”.

According to the OIC, Hiqa said: “A draft report must be completed within 15 days of the inspection.

“Thereafter, a timeline of 10 days applies for quality assurance review by management and a further two days for the draft report to be issued to the provider for the purpose of factual accuracy checks and feedback.”