Patients at the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, Dublin, were not provided with any food after 5pm, and kitchens in the hospital did not meet hygiene standards, a report from the Mental Health Commission has found.
The report, published on Thursday, said the hospital, run by the Health Service Executive, had dirty kitchen areas, open bins and food left uncovered, which was attracting flies.
The inspection found patients were not provided with any food after their 5pm meal, which was not in line with best standards.
An appropriate standard of hygiene was not maintained in the “storage, preparation, and disposal of food and related refuse”, the report said.
It was also highly critical of the premises, stating mould was found in the ceiling of one bedroom, and several of the patients’ bedrooms were too small, with some in poor decorative and structural condition.
Some patient’s toilet facilities had foul odours and required refurbishment, the inspectors said.
It was not possible to alter or adjust the heating in individual rooms, as the heating was controlled centrally for most units, which the report criticised.
The report found 11 areas where the facility failed to meet required standards, compared to seven areas of concern identified in 2015.
Highfield Hospital
In a separate Mental Health Commission report published on Thursday, inspectors said patients in Highfield Hospital, a nursing home and mental health facility specialising in dementia care, were not all given dignity when receiving end of life care.
They highlighted a serious lack of privacy for dying patients in the centre, which is based in Whitehall, north Dublin.
There was not enough single bedrooms in the facility for all patients, and some patients received end of life care in communal four-person rooms.
The report said “residents’ deaths were not always handled with dignity”, and providing end of life care in a four-bed room did not accommodate the needs of family and friends during patients’ dying moments. Screens separating patients in communal rooms were also too low and did not provide appropriate privacy to each resident.
The facility has 110 patient beds, and the inspection report found five areas where the centre did not meet appropriate standards, which included patient privacy, care of the dying, and staffing. This was an increase in non-compliance from 2015, where no areas of concern were raised.
