Mick Clifford: Care in the community is a great idea, but what care, and in which community?

Community care offers great services for some of the most vulnerable people in our society, but how far does the care go? And is the community the right one?

A Hiqa report on a community care residence in Monaghan found that ‘residents had been living in their bedrooms, engaging in limited activities’ and that they ‘did not attend school’. Picture: Eamonn Keogh

How much degradation must some of the most vulnerable in society be subject to before there is outrage? The publication last week of a Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) report into a residential centre for people with disabilities was shocking, yet the response was relatively muted. 

An on-the-spot inspection by the standards authority revealed that two residents of school-going age who have profound disabilities had been confined to the first floor of the house for 59 days in the last seven months. The lift in the premises was broken. A third resident was carried downstairs when required, but this wasn’t possible for the other two individuals.