Hiqa finds staff shortages in nursing homes and poor infection controls
Not Enough Have Meet One The Of To Staff Needs Residents Did Home Nursing
The health watchdog has found a series of non-compliances at nursing homes including one that did not have enough staff to meet the needs of residents.
Inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) found just 19 out of 50 centres were fully compliant or substantially compliant with the national standards and regulations at the time of inspections.
The inspections were carried out between November 2022 and February 2023 and 23 centres were found to be non-compliant with three regulations or less while eight centres were non-compliant with four or more regulations.
On these inspections, non-compliance was identified in areas such as infection control, medicines and pharmaceutical services, protection, fire precautions, governance and management, staffing, written policies and procedures, personal possessions, and residents' rights.
Hiqa inspectors found that staffing levels did not match the number of admissions at the Dundalk Care Centre when it was inspected in February and were not in line with the current national guidance.
"Some residents reported that it was often near lunchtime by the time staff had time to assist them to get washed and dressed and they would prefer to be assisted earlier in the day," the inspector noted.
"Another resident said staffing at night was particularly poor, and said that nursing staff were overheard complaining that there were not enough nurses on duty at night, which was not nice to hear.
"The resident went on to explain that when the staffing levels were low, the staff on duty were not always in good form, as they were stressed and this was not nice for residents who relied on staff for company," the inspector said.
The inspector also spoke to staff members who confirmed there was a staff shortage due to high turnover and the high level of staff sick leave due to the high demands of the job.
"They said that it was always busy and explained that there were constant admissions into the centre, which required a lot of time.
"On review of the roster on day two of the inspection there was just one staff nurse rostered to work on night duty, however, assurances were sought and gained that a second nurse was sought and rostered to work the night shift," the inspector noted.
Hiqa found that staffing levels were not sufficient to meet the needs of residents at all times and staff supervision was lacking in areas which resulted in some staff working without having the required mandatory training in place, which had a "negative on the quality of care that residents received".
It also found that the home failed to take all reasonable measures to protect residents from abuse.
"Two staff members whose names appeared on the staff roster did not have Garda vetting in place.
"One of these was observed working beside another staff nurse on the orange corridor on the first day of this inspection.
"This was discussed with the person in charge and the staff member was subsequently moved into an office.
"On day two of this inspection their names had been removed from the weekly roster and inspectors were assured they were not on duty," the inspector said.
Hiqa ordered the home to bring staffing levels in line with the national policy.