A HEALTH AUTHORITY report on a Co. Monaghan nursing home has identified serious issues with the standards of care and abilities and training of staff in general.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) inspection, which took place unannounced in late December 2014, was the fifth such inspection carried out at Mullinahinch House private nursing home, just outside Monaghan Town.
The report ruled that the nursing home had failed to comply adequately with rulings from a previous inspection carried out in July 2013.
Staff training in fire safety and fire drills, resident restraint management and care planning, and staffing levels/skill mix and staff supervision were all deemed not fit for purpose at that time.
The December inspection found that these problems had not been rectified long after the initial deadline for action.
It further found there was evidence of major negative outcomes for residents especially at night.
The facility’s high-dependency room was not adequately staffed to meet the needs of residents requiring 24-hour high-support nursing care.
The two HIQA inspectors also found failings in relation to standards for the prevention and control of infections.
Mullinahinch House has responded to the findings and said it will review staffing levels and skill sets, and that its high-dependency unit had been recategorised to a four-bed unit.
It said that fire safety training for all staff was now fully compliant with regulations.
The nursing home said a new policy would be developed in relation to procedures for the prevention of the spread of healthcare associated infections, and appropriate training would be provided to all staff.
The latest debacle regarding the standards of care in Irish nursing homes follows hot on the heels of the Áras Attracta scandal in Swinford, Co. Mayo.
The nursing home had been the centre of an RTÉ Prime Time special last December, with shocking incidents of staff abuse of the elderly residents exposed.
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