Cork nursing home failed to carry out fire safety upgrades 18 months after promise, Hiqa says
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Fire safety improvements committed to in January 2022 for a Cork nursing home were not carried out by an inspection in August this year, the health watchdog Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has said.
Hiqa published 50 inspection reports on residential centres for older people. Among them is a report on the Aperee Living Churchtown centre.
This was found not compliant with fire safety measures, including exit doors which did not open wide enough for people using walking aids to access, and two doors which “required excessive force” to open. They also identified an exit door for which it took several minutes for staff to find a key.
Inspectors also found outdoor gardens which residents could use, but only one of these was immediately accessible. They saw good access to seating, access to a barbeque, and that donkeys kept in a nearby area were sometimes brought into the garden for residents to meet.
At the time of the inspection, Aperee Living Churchtown Ltd was the provider for this centre. This nursing home, along with others in the Aperee Living group founded by the Cork-based investment firm Blackbee, has since been taken over by a consortium of investors.
The deal includes homes in Belgooly and Ballygunner in Waterford which lost their Hiqa registration due to concerns. It also includes a partially completed site in Glanmire and a Rochestown site in Cork which has full planning for a 100-bed nursing home and 47 independent living units.
The consortium is led by Paul Kingston, who was chief executive of Aperee Living up to June 2022. His departure followed a legal dispute between Blackbee founder David O’Shea and two top executives, including Mr Kingston, over ownership of nearly €11m worth of shares.
The latest Hiqa reports include Aperee Living Ballinasloe in Galway, which is now similarly taken over. Concerns regarding the safeguarding of residents’ money at this centre echo problems found in some other homes in this group.
Inspectors said "effective oversight arrangements" were not in place around pensions, and a review of the pension agent arrangements previously committed to was not completed.
At Bishopscourt Residential Centre, Cork, the inspector found they were compliant or substantially compliant with all but one regulation around care plans.
One resident who had a recently diagnosed covid-19 infection did not have this reflected in their care plan. In another case, a resident's mobility care plan recorded this person was independent but they required the assistance of two staff.
At the Sonas Nursing Home Melview in Tipperary, fire concerns were identified; a fire safety risk assessment was not available to the inspectors. They recommended action to boost fire safety management.
They also found the quality manager role was vacant at the time as were the roles of assistant person in charge and hospitality manager. While they noted improvements to the building, they recommended better signs especially for people with dementia due to the “complex design and layout of the centre”.
All 50 reports can be read on the Hiqa website.