Health

Residents of Wexford nursing home had pads changed against their wishes at night

Complaints about early bed-times and quality of food highlighted by health watchdog inspectors

Residents at Castlebridge Manor nursing home, near Wexford town, asked that the practice of changing their incontinence wear at a specific time at night be stopped so that they could have a restful sleep, a Hiqa report has stated. Photograph: iStock

Paul Cullen
Thu Mar 21 2024 - 12:22

Residents of a Co Wexford nursing home had their incontinence pads changed against their wishes during the night, thereby interrupting their sleep, according to an inspection report.

The practice at Castlebridge Manor nursing home, near Wexford town, was to change incontinence wear at a specific time at night, a resident told Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) inspectors. The resident had told staff they did not want the pads changed at these specific times so they could have a restful sleep, the inspection report states.

Some of the higher-dependency residents were offered very poor social engagement, the inspectors found, spending the day in their rooms with the television on, with very little engagement with staff.

Residents’ choice of bed-time was not supported. One reported being put to bed at 8pm, when they would have liked to stay up. Just nine out of 81 residents were in the communal day areas at 8pm, when the unannounced inspection started.

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A survey of residents highlighted dissatisfaction about overall care, communication, services and recreation. Some residents also complained about the quality of food.

“A number of residents told inspectors that the food was sometimes cold, did not taste nice and the fruit offered was not always fresh. However, the registered provider had failed to respond to resident feedback, survey results and residents’ meetings in this respect.”

A Co Waterford community hospital failed to take all reasonable measures to protect residents from abuse, according to a separate inspection report.

Dungarvan Community Hospital did not investigate incidents of unexplained bruising, the report found.

Although the incidents were followed up in detail medically, no action was taken to rule out a safeguarding concern, it said. “This was despite the centre’s policy stating that incidents of unexplained bruising could pose a safeguarding concern, and therefore should be investigated.”

The community hospital, which accommodates almost 100 older people and people with dementia, was also faulted in relation to the premises and to oversight of key areas of the service.

There has been repeated non-compliance with a series of inspections dating back to March 2020 in relation to the overall premises, according to the report. Assurances were not provided that the systems in place to ensure oversight of key areas of the service were safe, appropriate, consistent and effectively managed.

Inspectors also noted that staff were wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) on the day of their inspection, despite there being no case of infection in the centre. This is not in line with national guidance, they said. One resident was in isolation, despite not having an infection, again against national guidance.

The report praised the standard of care at the hospital, describing it as warm with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Staff used a spoon to open a locked fire exit at a care centre for people with disabilities and dementia, another inspection report found.

Hiqa inspectors were heavily critical of “ineffective” fire precautions at Bushfield care centre, near Oranmore, Co Galway, which could put the safety of residents at risk.

The centre’s fire extinguishers were outside their service date and some fire exit doors were narrow, making mattress evacuation difficult in the event of a fire.

Significant fire safety risks were identified in the fire safety risk assessment and on this inspection, particularly in regards to “inappropriate storage practices, means of escape, fire-containment, compartmentation boundaries, visual deficiencies to fire doors and a lack of emergency lighting,” according to the report. “All of which could lead to serious consequences for residents in a fire emergency.”

Inspectors reported a “significant lack of progress” by the provider in addressing fire risks identified in a previous report in 2022. As a result, the provider was failing to meet regulatory requirements.

Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen is Health Editor of The Irish Times

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