HIQA inspectors say they were “not satisfied” and had “significant concerns” about a Kilkenny disability centre.
Responsibility for St Patrick’s Centre for children and adults with disabilities was taken over by the HSE last October.
Yesterday HIQA published its latest report into the centre.
This unannounced inspection was carried out at the end of February this year to assess compliance since the Health Service took over at the end of last year.
Inspectors said that although the staff numbers had increased and instances of peer to peer agression had gone down, they were still not satisfied that enough progress had been made since October.
They stated there are “significant concerns” in relation to the lack of suitable management arrangements to oversee the quality and safety of care provided to the residents.
This is resulting in “direct negative outcomes” for the 28 people in the facility.
Concerns were also noted in relation to fire safety works that weren’t completed since the last report.
Specific examples were given of fire doors not being installed and what inspectors called a failure to adopt a pro-active approach to other identified risks.
In relation to healthcare needs the report says it wasn’t demonstrated that residents consistently got the appropriate care – due to a lack of assessment of their needs.
In their response, St Patrick’s Centre outlined that efforts are being and have been made to fix all the problems outlined.






