Residents at a north Dublin service for adults with intellectual disabilities complained of feeling fearful and upset by the behaviour of others living there.
Inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) found that “ongoing compatibility issues” between residents of Grangemore Rise were not resolved quickly enough. Some of the six adult residents said they were kept awake at night due to the behaviour of fellow residents.
During an inspection of the St Michael’s House facility in April, residents spoke of feeling “very unhappy” with their living arrangements, while one who was “visibly upset” said his or her “life was made a misery” by the situation.
Residents outlined to inspectors how they felt it was “futile to complain” about the persistent circumstances as “nothing was ever done”. Since October there had been 41 safeguarding incidents at the centre.
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Consequently, safeguarding practices required “urgent review”, as the negative peer-to-peer interactions were affecting the residents’ quality of life.
Inspectors acknowledged that the provider had endeavoured to put in place a plan that would resolve the issues, but it had not been carried out within an appropriate timeframe, the report notes.
It was also noted that the centre was not suitable for meeting all of the residents’ assessed needs, so some needed to spend long periods outside of the centre. While “necessary to protect residents” this arrangement was “not conducive” to providing appropriate person-centred care.
However, inspectors also reported positive findings, including that staff “appeared to know residents very well and they supported residents in a gentle and supportive manner”.
The findings are contained in one of 26 inspection reports published by Hiqa on Tuesday, which detail good levels of compliance at 15 centres.
However, Hiqa inspectors discovered that one highly dependent resident had not left her Co Wexford centre for a long period as the service vehicle reportedly did not meet her disability needs.
Full-time nursing care
The person in charge at the Health Service Executive Rivendell facility, which houses eight adults with high-level physical and intellectual disabilities requiring full-time nursing care, had requested a second service vehicle for the home.
With the centre located in a rural part of Co Wexford, the resident could not access the local community without travelling in a vehicle. The provider had outlined a plan for the resident to move to a centre closer to a town, but this had not yet happened in part due to Covid-19, according to the provider.
At Teach Saoirse, another HSE-run centre in Co Wexford, inspectors found that residents experienced hourly checks during the night, which affected their right to privacy and “did not promote conditions for a restful nights sleep”. The rationale for this practice was not made clear.
