Hiqa Issues Urgent Fire Safety Actions at Disability Centers in Monaghan, Limerick
Hiqa has issued urgent fire safety directives for disability centers in Monaghan and Limerick following inspections. Significant non-compliance was found at Zamab Care's Longfield House and Corlann's Limerick center, prompting immediate action orders. Overall, most of the 23 centers inspected demonstrated good compliance.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has mandated several urgent fire safety actions at disability centers across Ireland following recent inspections. On Thursday, Hiqa released inspection reports for 23 disability centers nationwide, highlighting areas requiring immediate attention.
At Longfield House, a center operated by Zamab Care in Co Monaghan, inspectors identified significant non-compliance with regulations, necessitating urgent intervention the day after the inspection. Deficiencies were noted in governance and management, staff training, record-keeping, incident notification, personal plans, and safeguarding. Specifically, not all staff had received fire safety training, prompting an urgent action order. Additionally, some staff lacked training in crisis prevention, first aid, or food safety. Zamab Care has since submitted a compliance plan, committing to ensure all staff complete the required training.
An urgent action order was also issued to Corlann for its center in Co Limerick, requiring a review of fire evacuation measures to enhance resident protection. Furthermore, inspectors found that residents were not adequately consulted regarding the impact of restrictive practices or their rights. Restrictive practices observed included limited access to cigarettes for one resident and restricted independent access to the local community for another over the weekend, leading to a finding of non-compliance with residents’ rights.
Separately, a center managed by Cheeverstown House CLG in Dublin was found to lack the necessary staffing levels and skill-mix to adequately meet residents’ needs. Residents’ personal plans were also not consistently reviewed or sufficiently supported. Despite these specific issues, the reports generally indicated a good level of compliance with regulations and standards across most of the 23 centers inspected.