STAFF MEMBERS AT a day centre for people with intellectual disabilities have to boil the kettle in order to get hot water to wash service users, an employee has said.

There has been no hot water at the day centre in Islandbridge in Dublin 8 since the central heating broke in July, the staff member told The Journal.

Portable heaters are being used to keep service users warm, as staff contend with leaks and dampness.  The employee said the situation is “Dickensian”. 

Staff are using buckets to collect water from leaks in the ceiling

The centre is part of the Saint John of God (SJOG) Liffey Services, which provides a range of respite, residential and day services for people with intellectual disabilities in Dublin.

The day centre in Islandbridge currently has about 16 adult service users ranging in age from their 30s to their 60s. The service users have various conditions such as Down syndrome, dementia, epilepsy and scoliosis.

“These guys are all incredibly vulnerable,” the staff member said.

“They all have very complex medical disorders, and severe to profound intellectual disability.

“We do personal care, which includes changing pads, so they’re very exposed to the fact that it’s freezing.”

The employee described the situation as “absolute chaos”. 

We’re giving personal care to people, and we’re trying to do all this from boiled kettle water.

The centre operates from Monday to Friday, and helps people get a break from their residential setting or provides respite for elderly parents who are looking after their adult children.

‘Dickensian’

The employee said there are other issues with the building including dampness and holes in the ceiling – buckets are being used to catch water from the leaks.

“It’s not a sanitary, healthy environment… it just feels a bit Dickensian at this point.”

They said staff are doing the best they can to keep people warm, but are really struggling as we enter the colder winter months and temperatures have dropped.

“We’re at a point where we can’t do this indefinitely. It’s not safe and it’s going to get snowy next week.”

"It's not a sanitary, healthy environment," the employee said

The staff member said SJOG management has been contacted about the issues several times in recent months, but no long-term fixes have been put in place. 

The employee said the heating has broken at various other times over the years, but was usually fixed within weeks.

The staff member believes the heating has not been fixed due to funding issues. 

Apology from SJOG

A spokesperson for Saint John of God Community Services confirmed “there are active works ongoing in Islandbridge centre currently to fully upgrade a heating system which will be completed once the gas connection is restored”.

“Contingency plans are in place at this time to mitigate the impact for both service users and staff based at this day service centre.

“St John of God Community Services very much regrets the current circumstances, apologises to those affected and is committed to resolving the matter urgently.”

The building also has problems with dampness

Multiple concerns have been raised about SJOG’s funding in recent years.

In February, the board announced the group’s services would be transferred to the HSE within months unless extra funding was received by the HSE to cover a €32.5 million deficit.

Later that month, an agreement was reached between the HSE and SJOG’s management board, and a structured funding model was put in place.

SJOG previously planned to transfer its facilities to the HSE in October 2020, as it faced a similar funding crisis. However, these plans were paused in August 2021.

The staff member from the Islandbridge centre said other SJOG facilities have much better conditions but – if some centres don’t even have hot water – perhaps services should be transferred to the HSE.

“I’ve never been in an HSE building that’s dilapidated to this point,” they told us.

A spokesperson said the HSE’s Disability Services work with St John of God Community Services “on an ongoing basis in relation to service provision”.

“SJOG directly manage maintenance and refurbishment of existing facilities and new service locations, and the HSE support this as part of ongoing engagements.”

They added that the HSE has provided €53 million in overall funding from January 2024 to the end of October to SJOG to “provide services across the Dublin South, Kildare and West Wicklow areas”, including the centre in Islandbridge.