Cork disability centre found to be non-compliant with Hiqa regulations

Cope Foundation-run Cork centre had eight incidents of non- compliance with Hiqa's regulations

Thirty inspections were conducted by Hiqa between June and October 2023 across a number of centres around Ireland. Picture: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie

More than half of disability centres which were inspected by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) were found to have "poor levels of compliance" with regulations.

Thirty inspections were conducted by the authority between June and October 2023 across a number of centres around Ireland.

Inspectors found issues with 19 of the centres, including one in Cork which had eight incidents of non-compliance with Hiqa's regulations.

Cork City North 15, run by the Cope Foundation, was the subject of an unannounced inspection by Hiqa officials on September 26.

During the inspection, a number of problems were discovered around:

• Capacity and capability: Inspectors found there to be issues with staffing, particularly that it was "unclear" who the senior staff were on duty on the day of the inspection. There were gaps in the level of training some of the staff present on the day had undertaken. Furthermore, there was evidence of a "lack of follow up by the provider with issues raised by family representative" of a resident.
• Quality and safety: Risk management procedures, residents rights, fire precautions and individual assessments were all found to have issues in Cork City North 15. On the day of this inspection, there was damage evident to a fire door and intumescent strip in one of the houses. There was a damaged glass panel on another fire door — this was awaiting repairs at the time of this inspection. 

However, this was not the first time damage to the same glass panel had occurred in the apartment setting in one of the houses. This was also damaged at the time of the May 2023 inspection and had been repaired. 

The inspectors were informed the recent breakage had occurred two weeks prior to this inspection. There was wooden panelling observed to be in place while suitable replacement glass was awaited to repair the damage.

Furthermore, not all residents could access all communal areas of their home as they wished. One resident was requested to leave a sitting room as another resident did not wish to be in their company.

Elsewhere, at two centres operated by Ability West in Galway, Hiqa found poor governance, management of risk and inadequate personal plans for residents were impacting on residents’ day-to-day lives. 

At two centres operated by Kare in Kildare, residents were impacted by safeguarding incidents, poor management of complaints, lack of staffing and insufficient access to their finances and transport.

Poor governance has been identified in five centres operated by Brothers of Charity Services Ireland, including in Clare and Waterford.

Four centres operated by the HSE were found to have issues.

Improvements were required in areas including residents’ rights and finances, safeguarding measures, fire safety and premises.

Residents’ finances, fire safety and measures to protect against infection required improvements at a centre in Dublin, which was operated by Cheeverstown House. 

Insufficient staffing was found to have affected the care provided to residents at a centre operated by Avista in Dublin.

Inspectors found residents’ rights and choices were not respected at a centre operated by IRL-IASD, and improvements to the premises, also based in Dublin, were also required

Finally, fire safety measures required improvement at a centre operated by North West Parents and Friends Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability in Sligo.