An independent inspection of a public nursing home in the city has uncovered major breaches in relation to rules for safeguarding and safety of residents.
The HIQA inspection of the HSE-run Merlin Park community nursing unit also found major breaches in relation to the suitability and safety of the premises.
Inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority visited the facility over two days last October.
There were 47 residents in the long-term residential unit during the unannounced inspection.
It inspected 13 outcomes, two of which were found to be major non-compliant in relation to the premises, safeguarding and safety. A further seven outcomes were judged to be moderate non-compliant.
The HIQA report, issued this week, noted that staff at Merlin Park had completed training on safeguarding and were awaiting more specific training on new national policy. However, it also identified major non-compliance.
Inspectors had concerns after reviewing an incident recorded in the centre’s complaints’ log, about a complaint made by a resident.
“The complaint concerned staff failing to ensure the privacy and dignity of a resident during personal care. The incident had been investigated by the person in charge but it was not identified as allegation (of) suspected abusive practice and was not investigated according to the centre’s safeguarding policy.
“There were no records available of the investigation or of any interviews with the staff members concerned. The incident was not reported to the HSE senior case worker for adult protection. In discussion with the person in charge, the inspector was informed that no retraining of the staff in question had taken place to prevent a re-occurrence,” according to the HIQA report.
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