Unsafe Tusla special care unit in Limerick described as a 'dump' by children

Coovagh House in Limerick. The health watchdog found it posed 'a significant risk to children’s safety and protection'.

Hiqa has found children in a Special Care Unit in Limerick were not safe at the facility due to an escalation of incidents there, the physical decline of the building and challenges over adequate staffing.

It also found that Tusla had failed to report allegations of abuse made by children or serious injuries to it.

The health watchdog found that the Tusla-run Coovagh House in Limerick posed "a significant risk to children’s safety and protection" because the physical environment could not provide safe living spaces for all four children living there. It also found that one child missed a hospital appointment because there was not sufficient staff to take them.

The Health Information and Quality Authority said it conducted the unannounced risk-based inspection last June on foot of information received by the Chief Inspector that the provider intended to move two of the four children detained in the unit to an alternative, non-registered Tusla centre, to allow building work on  the special care unit.

HIQA said: "Staff, social workers and guardians’ ad litem told inspectors that there were times when children were not kept safe. Staff told us they were challenged by some of the behaviour of children."

However, according to HIQA: "Children could not move on from the special care unit when they were ready to do so due to the lack of onward placements available to the provider. This limited the options available to the provider to respond to emergencies and the lack of resources impacted the viability of contingency plans."

'The place is a dump'

According to the report: "On a walk around of the premises, inspectors saw damage throughout the building resulting from an escalation in incidents involving damage to property, coupled with a general decline in the quality of the building over time."

One child said "The place is a dump and it has to be fixed", while others said "the place is a wreck" and "half the doors are broken".

The building had been divided into two individual living areas for single occupancy living and one child said "it is not a nice life" and that they felt "punished for the behaviour of others."

Another child said that they had missed a hospital appointment because there were not enough staff to take them to it, something that was confirmed by the person in charge.

"Overall, the centre was non-compliant with all of the regulations assessed," HIQA said, adding that management had acknowledged challenges in the previous six months in relation to staff recruitment and retention, an escalation in incidents of children’s challenging behaviour, and physical decline of the building.

"At the time of the inspection, inspectors found that the physical environment could not provide safe living spaces for all four children. This posed significant risk to children’s safety and protection and while two of the four children were living off-site at the time of the inspection, their substantive placement in the unit was maintained. However, inspectors were assured that this reduction in the capacity of the centre enabled the provider to provide safe care for the remaining two children."

Ineffective audits

HIQA found that auditing processes in relation to the management of incidents, complaints and allegations concerning children in the unit were not effective and that "the provider in charge had also failed to notify the Chief Inspector of several serious incidents in the special care unit relating to allegations of abuse made by children or serious injuries sustained by children."

HIQA said the Child and Family Agency had taken measures to mitigate against any immediate risk to the safety of children and staff, but that the centre’s risk management processes were "ineffective at addressing risks at an earlier stage".

Tusla provided HIQA with assurances in relation to the high-risk non-compliances relating to governance and management, risk management and the notification of incidents to the Chief Inspector and has also submitted a plan outlining how it intends to come into full compliance.