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A CARE HOME for disabled children in Co Monaghan has been criticised in a Hiqa report after it was found that two residents were unable to come downstairs for over three weeks when the centre’s lift broke down.
The two residents, who are both wheelchair users, could not attend school and one resident missed an appointment as there was no way to get them down the stairs except in the case of an emergency.
They had been confined to the top floor of the house for a total of 25 days in January, and the inspection found that the lift had also been out of service from 27 July 2022 to 29 August 2022 (34 days).
This meant that in seven months two residents were confined to the first floor of their home for a total of 59 days.
The report from HIQA read: “The provider had not responded appropriately to either incident and had not put in place alternative arrangements. The provider had also failed to notify HIQA regarding the issues with the lift or the impact it had on residents on both occasions.”
Woodbrook Lodge provides long-term care for up to four residents under 18 years of age, although only three were living at the centre when the unannounced inspection took place on 25 January.
During the introductory meeting, the inspector was informed that, the lift had been out of order since 31 December 2022.
The third resident could be carried downstairs by staff.
The residents had been living in their bedrooms, engaging in limited activities on the landing area of the first floor and having their meals in the upstairs office area.
The review of residents’ records showed that, prior to the lift being out of service, residents were attending school and where possible, they were engaged in activities in and outside of their home.
The report found that the residents’ needs were “negatively impacted” by the lift being out of order and the centre was deemed to be not compliant in eight regulation areas including fire precautions and resident’s rights.
Following the January inspection the centre outlined measures taken to address issues raised in the report including relocating two residents downstairs so that any potential issues with the lift wouldn’t impact them again.
The lift was fixed since the inspection and an agreement is in place with a company to service it twice a year.
An electric evacuation chair was also purchased by the centre for moving residents up and down stairs in emergencies.
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I just don’t understand what the excuse is for this? These children should have been relocated or the lift should have been fixed urgently. Apart from the obvious fire safety risks here, this is just cruelty plain and simple.
@Em: Or permanently relocated from a care home to a home. Who knew there were childrens care homes still running in 2023.
@Em: Funding???
@@MarionCourtney: it always comes down to funding. The best and easiest way to pass the buck. We have seen the couldn’t care less attitude of a small minority of the staff in some of these care homes. I am thinking in particular about the home in Mayo, that was secretly filmed on Prime Time. What is it about some people who dare not think outside of the box or even show basic humanity or in this case even pick up the phone and inform HIQA that there is a problem.
@@MarionCourtney: emergency maintenance of their lift system would surely be covered by their insurance company. I could understand waiting a few days for a lift engineer but for extended periods, not once but twice is inexcusable. Especially when it directly impacts the residents ability to leave a building.
@@MarionCourtney: eehh noo..funding may explain rooms not being painted, crap curtains, even short staffed and bland food….but not the lift being broke for so long!! Thats cruel, never mind mental health ans safety concerns. They found funding quick enough after the unannounced inspection
People in prison have more rights.
You can judge how civilised a country is by how it treats its most vulnerable. Also reflected in how poorly we as a country treat the people in front line services who provide care and support.
When it comes to care and support for anyone with disabilities, Ireland’s services are almost non existent. Parents and carers get worn out trying to advocate for their disabled person. We aren’t much further with disabilities services than we were in the 1970-80′s. I’m so sick of empty promises, lies, half truths and promises that never materialise. I’m a pensioner with a 38 yo disabled adult who will end up in one of those “homes” if I die and then God help her.
@Rosemary Flowers: Unless you can prove the disability was somebody else’s fault then you win a massive compensation claim and need never worry about care costs or any other expenses for the rest of your life. The imbalance in perceived needs between those eligible for ‘compo’ and those not is obscene. Necessary care should be necessary care, whatever the circumstances by which the need came about ;yet if you ‘go it alone ‘ you’ll be struggling your entire life.
Also, looks like they had no intention to fix the lift but for the surprise inspection.
“Furthermore, before the inspection, there was no clear deadline for when the residents would be supported to access the ground floor of their home.”
Found Not Compliant for:
1. Staffing
2. Training and Staff development
3. Governance and management
4. Premises
5. Risk Management Procedures
6. Fire precautions
7. Individual Assessment and Personal Plan
8. Residents’ rights
Was not compliant in 8 out of 12 Regulations.
People should be sacked for this and if its a private company be taken off the investors/owners who ever has a vested interest as punishment for gross negligence….
Can you imagine being confined to your room for 25 days in Jan and then again for 34 days in July/Aug? A broken lift can be serviced in a few hrs, if not, then alternative living arrangements should be made!
It’s shameful that this ‘care home’ would probably have continued with this broken lift indefintely, except for the hiqua review.
I’m a wheelchair user myself and you honestly get broken down by having to constantly advocate for anything from the HSE. The bureaucracy is just mind numbingly obtuse.
If this was in a prison or a non national not getting what they claim they are entitled to they would sue, and win. This is despicable.
@Limerick Seniors Forum:
Ahh, there’s always at least one having a dig at the “non nationals” and you didn’t disappoint. What has one to to do with the other?
This is what happens when you privatise vital healthcare service, and because it has to be cheapest offer, private companies are lowering their charges in the hope no major expense will happen.
Is the private company to blame? For sure, no question!
But even more, the HSE and the government is to blame for outsourcing more and more services, pretending it will save money, instead of getting the HSE reorganised and getting it fit for propose.
The HSE seems to be untouchable = more private “charities” or companies providing service and because of the governments guidelines, it almost always has to be the cheapest one.
Everyone who has dealt with some form of outsourcing does know the main reasons for it:
- I cannot get my own house in order and need someone else to take over and by that, slowly get rid of the staff and my problem in dealing with it.
- I need to move costs from one account of my business to another one, to make it look better in my books.
There’re of cause plenty of cases where outsourcing reduces costs, but I don’t think the HSE is one of them.
People with disabilities should be funded to whatever degree is appropriate. There is no excuse for not doing so. A disabled person has no way of improving their status and it could be any of us so afflicted.
Criminal it is, watt and his conies in Hse have a lot to answer for the destruct of our health system
Absolutely disgraceful. The HSE and the government just don’t care about people with disabilities. My son recieved a new wheelchair are waiting over 12 months for delivery it broke down. Still waiting over 12 weeks later for repairs to be completed. We had a technician out to review the issue and he told us cheap parts were being used on chairs purely to save money. So it’s really back that they don’t care but it’s worse that they use the Disabled people as a means to cut costs. I could write a book on this subject…
Could they not be picked up by someone and carried down the stairs in their arms?
Spell check ✅
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