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Care centre resident drugged 13 times by staff as form of 'chemical restraint'

Hiqa has called for an urgent review of staffing levels at Cregg House in Sligo following concerns raised in three new reports.

THREE NEW HIQA reports have raised serious concerns about care standards and staffing levels at a HSE-run home for people with intellectual disabilites.

Cregg House in Ballincar, Co. Sligo, was found to be in major breach of quality standards in 19 out of 23 areas inspected by the health watchdog in the period covered by the reports – between December 2014 and April 2015.

The centre, which houses 108 residents, failed to fully comply with regulation in any area, Hiqa found.

Young residents sometimes stayed in bed until 1pm, as there were not enough staff on duty to attend to them.

Chemical restraint

Inspectors also detailed inadequate monitoring of the use of “chemical restraint” – which is generally defined as the use of drugs “to restrict an individual’s movement or freedom”.

One resident who had recently suffered from a pressure sore received chemical restraint on 13 occasions in the past few months, one of the reports said.

Inspectors said there was no evidence staff had assessed the resident for problems such as incontinence or a lack of social stimulation before chemical restraint was administered.

One nurse told them it was “better to give the chemical restraint at the start of the outburst otherwise it could go on for up to two hours”.

Student nurses

One of the reports found that several staff members had not completed mandatory training in manual handling and the protection of vulnerable adults.

And in addition to problems brought about by low staffing levels, a nurse manager told inspectors that student nurses on a rotational placement in the unit had been used to replace care staff who were familiar to residents.

There were limited activities to support residents and some had not been taken on day trips in several years.

The home was ordered to address a number of areas immediately – including staffing levels and fire safety problems.

Further inspection reports on the home are due to be published in the coming weeks.

Read: Children moved from asylum centres after claims of inappropriate contact >

Read: This nursing home has been reprimanded yet again after a FIFTH inspection >

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27 Comments
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    Mute Pauric McKenna
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:00 PM

    ..and those who carry out assisted-suicide are criminalised. At the very least the are granting a persons dying wish, as opposed to the absolute disregard for human life exhibited by these money driven care and nursing homes around the country.

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    Mute Anne Granahan
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:15 PM

    There are wonderful people working in creeg house under very difficult circumstances – the clients in some of these units are very hard managed – I’m pretty certain if there was enough staff to both care for and engage with residents the situation would be better. If the nurses didn’t care about the residents so much I’d imagine a lot of the would have left for better pay and conditions long ago

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    Mute Catherine Mill
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:21 PM

    Most of the staff are not properly trained to engage with these clients. The training does not include listening and empathy. Its all so sterile. Yes so many are leaving because their souls cannot take it anymore.

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    Mute Marcia Duane
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    Jun 11th 2015, 8:10 PM

    I hope the wonderful people in Cregg house have written thousands of letters of complaint about the conditions the people they are supporting are living in, both to hse and their unions. If not I question your definition of ‘wonderful people’. What do you mean some of these people are hard to ‘MANAGE’. It looks like their was no management of the place…. A child not getting out of bed till 1pm due to staff shortages- what did the child get ‘breakfast in bed’ and ‘dinner in bed’ all before 1 when there was a staff member to get them up, come on! Try ‘managing’ me if I was treated like that. I am sorry but it doesn’t sound like there was even 1 ‘wonderful person’ on that day that felt the more human thing to do was to get the child up and maybe god forbid have their lunch with the child…

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    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
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    Jun 12th 2015, 2:44 PM

    There’ll never be enough staff with the right qualifications in these places. You get your FETAC level 5 and go on jobsbridge for dole plus €50, otherwise it would eat into the profitability of these places… and make no mistake, that’s all those facilities are there for – to turn a profit. The owners don’t give a crap about the inmates.

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    Mute Jackie M Keegan
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    May 27th 2017, 4:24 PM

    @Anne Granahan: the client s deserve the best of Care whether difficult or not

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    Mute Proinsias Ó Foghlú
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    Jun 11th 2015, 1:53 PM

    We have to ask ourselves, do we want to pay more tax or do we want this situation to continue?

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    Mute Periguin
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    Jun 11th 2015, 1:59 PM

    How is throwing money at a culture problem going to help?

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    Mute Proinsias Ó Foghlú
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:07 PM

    Periguin, it is my understanding that these individuals are drugged because there is not enough staff and money available to provide a service to these people such that they would not need to be subdued to an almost catatonic state drugs.

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    Mute Periguin
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:13 PM

    Proinsias, as it’s a HSE entidy, any more funds would be swallowed up. HIQA is doing a fine job, but at the end of the day, it boils down to the HSE management doing a bad job.

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    Mute Vincent Wallace
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:26 PM

    If there was morw money available do you honestly think the HSE would hire more. Staff? Thats abit nieve now

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    Mute glenoir1
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:34 PM

    Sometimes there is enough staff but not enough patience to help the individual without driving ghem

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    Mute glenoir1
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:35 PM

    Sorry druging them

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    Mute Periguin
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:56 PM

    @Vincent, if we give the HSE more money, they’ll hire more management and probably a consultant to tell us how much we need them.

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    Mute Mark Gerard Lochlain
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    Jun 12th 2015, 12:49 PM

    Glad to see those witches from Aras attracta in court today Joan Gill, Joan Walsh, Kathleen king string them up!!! Glad they’re named and shamed. Witches

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    Mute glenoir1
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:32 PM

    Have worked in this area for many years both abroad and here. People working in this field need to be trained more and there is not enough skills in this area. Working with people with learning disability requires patience understanding and a genuine understanding of the condition. Too many people have done a course for 1 year and go into this job supervision is so important and constant support and upgrading of skills this is not good enough .where is accountability for the most vulnerable people

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    Mute Jackie M Keegan
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    May 27th 2017, 4:26 PM

    @glenoir1: some peaple that work in the disability sector are not suited and should not be working with vonerable peaple

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    Mute glenoir1
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:36 PM

    I’m sick of hiqua reports mental health commission reports etc but there only reports no intervention or sorting out the problem

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    Mute Mark Gerard Lochlain
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    Jun 11th 2015, 1:58 PM

    I’d love to chemically restrain and administer electric shock treatment to some of those so called nurses! Some bloody Witches. Name and shame them so they can never work again

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    Mute Catherine Mill
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:18 PM

    Yes and let us remember the use of ECT and psychiatric drugs on sexually abused children to silence them. All hushed up by our secret court system.
    With respect, it its the real witches who help out that get burned- even today- grow organic or use any alternative therapies and you get done as a witch in secret court.
    Name and shame is the only way and it is our true Brehon Law style and it worked in the past.

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    Mute Noreen Lunney
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:07 PM

    havens for abuse all of them, there is no point inspecting this places if there is no enforcement of the findings i would not put a dog in these places.

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    Mute Bearsass Hairyarse
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    Jun 11th 2015, 1:55 PM

    Sounds like a right sh!thole!!

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    Mute catherine
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    Jun 11th 2015, 2:13 PM

    Shocking and shameful. I never want my.son to see the inside of places like these.

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    Mute Marcia Duane
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    Jun 13th 2015, 9:08 PM

    I don’t understand the dislikes on this comment. Anyone care to explain?

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    Mute Conchur Ó Súilleabháin
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    Jun 11th 2015, 4:38 PM

    HIQA is doing a good job with the limitations placed on it. It’s identifying failures in the system and ensures systems are put in place to improve services. Unfortunately there are an ever increasing number of care providers in the private sector who have no oversight systems in place as they are not part of HIQA or MHC’s remit. These services are run for profit and many of their staff have little or no training

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    Mute Helen Farrell
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    Jun 11th 2015, 11:00 PM

    It sounds like hell for those people with intellectual disabilities. No chance to experience the outside world in years. Being made stay in bed. Drugging people if they got frustrated. No mental stimulation. Disgraceful.

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    Mute Jackie M Keegan
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    May 27th 2017, 4:22 PM

    Disgraceful name and shame the centre

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