HEALTH AUTHORITIES are investigating hundreds of complaints of mistreatment, abuse or lapses in care for people with disabilities in residential settings.
More than 500 complaints have been made over the past 2½ years, according to records seen by The Irish Times.
The most serious incidents include allegations of abuse or physical assault by staff at a number of residential centres.
At present, there are no mandatory care standards or independent inspections of disability services, unlike nursing homes for older people and residential centres for children in State care.
The Government rejected plans to put these measures in place on a statutory basis last year because of pressures on the public finances.
Officials privately say that it would have cost between €5 million and €10 million.
More than 8,000 adults and 400 children with intellectual disabilities are in full-time residential accommodation in settings ranging from large institutions to group homes. These voluntary organisations receive about €1.5 billion in State funding each year. While large numbers of complaints relate to lack of communication or concerns over accommodation standards, significant numbers relate to alleged incidents of abuse or mistreatment.
There is also concern at how some complaints have been handled. Families of people with disabilities who have made complaints say in some cases that care workers involved in mistreatment were relocated to different parts of the service, rather than being removed from the service altogether.
In one case in Dublin, a staff member who highlighted an incident involving a care worker who struck a disabled child a number of times left the facility because the care worker was later reinstated to the post.
Official records show that in one case of alleged physical assault at a centre for people with disabilities in Co Cork, a staff member was “removed from the area” where the resident was based, following an investigation by a complaints officer.
However, most records do not show the outcome of investigations. For example, at a care home in Co Mayo an allegation of abuse against a staff member was dealt with. While the care provider said it agreed to ensure standards of care would be improved, records do not show whether any staff member was disciplined.
In another case, an abuse allegation in Co Leitrim prompted a social work and Garda investigation, but it does not record the outcome.
Similarly, in Galway and the greater Dublin area, abuse allegations were simply categorised as “trust in care” investigations – the name of a HSE document on dealing with abuse concerns.
The records do not show the outcomes, except to say they were “dealt with within 30 days”.The Health Service Executive (HSE) says it has a robust complaints policy in place.
It says it works with service providers to ensure service users are able to register complaints and have them addressed appropriately.
“Given the quantum of services provided to people with disabilities, there may be a range of complaints differing in nature at any point in time,” the HSE said in a statement
Minister of State with responsibility for disability John Moloney said last night that independent inspections of residential centres for children with intellectual disabilities are due to come into force by the end of this year. This follows a recommendation in the Ryan report into the abuse of children in State institutions.
He said he hoped to bring proposals to Government soon on extending inspections to adult facilities, but was unable to say when.
One option being examined was funding inspections from the financial contributions of religious organisations.