Resident who bought TV to be reimbursed by disability service

A resident of a Tipperary disability home is to be reimbursed for a television, a leather suite of furniture and garden furniture which inspectors found should have been purchased by the service.

An inspection of two units of St Anne's Residential Services outside Roscrea in June found that the resident had also purchased a car in 2012 on the understanding that the vehicle was solely for that resident's benefit.

However, despite other residents making use of vehicle the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) inspectors found no evidence that St Anne’s was contributing to the cost of insuring, taxing and servicing the car.

The inspectors found that arrangements to protect residents from financial abuse were not satisfactory.

The Hiqa inspectors also found there were "significant deficits" in the quality of care provided to the nine residents of the two "Group L" houses which are run by Daughters of Charity Disability Support Services.

The centre failed to comply with any of the 10 outcomes examined during the two-day inspection: six of these were found to be major non-compliances.

In a response to the inspection report St Anne's said the resident would be reimbursed and that it would ensure an independent advocate would be made available to residents requiring financial support in future. It also set out actions to be taken to address the other issues raised.

An inspection in May of a separate unit of St Anne's, a semi-detached house which, was at that time, home to three men and two women with intellectual disabilities, found that the premises was visibly unclean and poorly maintained.

Inspectors reported cobwebs clearly visible on lightshades and walls, mould on some walls and peeling paint “in almost every room”.

Taps, sinks, baths and showers had accumulated grime in them, an extractor fan in a shower was completely blocked with dust and there were rusting radiators in a number of bathrooms.

The inspectors also found that the social care needs of residents were not being met and pointed to an unsuitable mix of residents which they said was contributing to peer-to-peer verbal abuse.

In response to the findings of the inspection report management said a professional company had carried out a thorough deep cleaning of the centre. The service also undertook to carry out necessary maintenance works.

St Anne’s said a review group has been established to identify the wishes and needs of individual service users around their accommodation needs.