HIQA closes 11 Nursing Homes in two years; including one in Offaly
Ireland’s first analysis of over 1,500 Nursing Homes inspections by HIQA released by The Wolfe Group
With yet another Nursing Home closed recently in Galway, this brings to 11 the total number of Irish Nursing Homes closed by HIQA since 2010 – including Upton House Nursing Home in Clara. For the first time, an analysis of over 1,500 inspections of Nursing Homes by HIQA has been conducted by specialist health consultants and trainers to Ireland’s Health and Social Care sector, The Wolfe Group, who say it is likely that even more will close this year.
Given that HIQA states it will only close a centre as a last resort, The Wolfe Group’s analysis of HIQA’s findings reveals that the number of regulation breaches found in the 11 now closed Nursing Homes was considerable. Each centre received, on average, five inspections before facing closure with one centre receiving 10 inspections. Despite being given agreed action plans and considerable time to improve standards, an average of 17 months from first inspection, these centres did not adequately improve.
Of the Nursing Homes that closed, the most frequent areas of non-compliance identified in HIQA’s inspection reports were:
– the regulation on general welfare and protection – identified in 88 per cent
– the regulation relating to medicine – identified in 82 per cent
– the regulation on assessment and care planning – identified in 82 per cent
– the regulation on rights, dignity and consultation – identified in 76 per cent
Individual findings are most alarming. In the most recent closure announced at Owenriff Nursing Home in Oughterard, Co. Galway, it was found that most residents did not have a bath or shower in the previous month. Medication errors were also found. The final inspection report into another closed centre found that a male resident had “received chemical restraint on 18 occasions over 11 days without an appropriate record being maintained.” This was despite that fact that “There were no records of agitated or aggressive behaviour yet the chemical restraint (a sedative) was administered on 18 occasions.”
In the same home, inspectors also found that “one resident has sustained a serious injury of a fractured hip following a fall. Her plan of care indicated that she should be supervised in the bathroom. She had been in the bathroom unsupervised, had fallen and broken her hip”.
The final report into the now closed Avondale Nursing Home, Callan, identified that inspectors found that the nursing home had “commenced a process of discharging all residents within a 24-hour to 48-hour period… This arrangement was unplanned, not communicated to residents, families or general practitioners and created unnecessary trauma, upset, medical and mental health risks for the residents.”
Having carried out over 120 audits and evaluations on services in the Irish Health sector and assisted numerous organisations prepare to meet HIQA’s standards, The Wolfe Group (formerly known as Joe Wolfe & Associates) has undertaken Ireland’s first analysis of HIQA’s findings. These findings were consistent with their own experiences.
“We undertook this research to see how our experiences on the ground compared with official reports and to help other healthcare sectors prepare for upcoming HIQA inspection. Despite our analysis finding some shocking reports, in our view and from our analysis of regulators of health and social care internationally, HIQA is one of the best regulators worldwide and are rigorous in inspecting services. The fact that HIQA’s inspection reports are publically available makes the process very transparent and people can now access these reports when deciding on which residential home to place loved ones. Good services are now being recognised and Nursing Homes that continue to breach regulations will be closed. Inspections are ongoing and it is highly likely that there will be more closures before the end of this year” said Joe Wolfe, founding partner of The Wolfe Group.
The introduction of HIQA’s regulation of the Nursing Homes sector in 2009 was brought about as a result of sustained concerns about the quality of care in nursing homes, culminating in the Leas Cross scandal in 2006. Six years on it is now evident that the issues found at Leas Cross, particularly in relation to inadequately trained staff, lack of clear care routines, difficulties with medication, inadequate care planning, and poor governance and management, were not isolated incidents and were in fact mirrored in a number of other institutions.
HIQA’s recently published National Standards for Safer Better Health Care will see regulation and inspections extended to hospitals, ambulance services, community care, primary care and general practice. Plans are also in place to implement this process for residential services for people with disabilities in 2013 and The Wolfe Group is already working with a considerable number of centres to prepare for this.
“Our analysis has shown that HIQA has radically changed the Nursing Home sector for the better and we believe it will do the same for other health and social care sectors. While reports will no doubt reveal breaches, the planned HIQA inspection across additional sectors signifies a major step towards better health and social care in Ireland. The proper implementation and monitoring of standards and regulation is ultimately what protects service users and their families” said Joe Wolfe.
Centrally headquartered in Kilkenny, The Wolfe Group (formerly known as Joe Wolfe & Associates) is Ireland’s longest established providers of specialist health consultancy and training to the Health and Social Care sectors. The company was founded in 1999 by husband and wife team, Joe and Nicola Wolfe, who work alongside a handpicked team of internationally experienced consultants and trainers. The Wolfe Group offers three dedicated divisions – Quality and Audit; Organisational Development and Training.
List of Nursing Home closures
- Avondale Nursing Home, Callan, Co Kilkenny
- Woodlock Nursing Home, Portlaw, Co Waterford
- Woodside House Nursing Home, Fethard, Co Tipperary
- Upton House Nursing Home, Clara, Co. Offaly
- Rostrevor Private Nursing Home, Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 4
- Suirmount Nursing Home, Carrickbeg, Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary
- Glenbervie Nursing Home, Sidmonton Road, Bray, Co Wicklow
- Martin Hospital, Portlaw, Waterford
- Creevelea Nursing Home, Laytown, Co Meath
- St. Anne’s Nursing Home, Cashel, Co. Tipperary
- Owenriff Nursing Home, Oughterard, Co. Galway
