Almost one in three disability centres fail to ensure residents adequately safeguarded in 2018

Almost one in three disability centres failed to ensure that residents were adequately safeguarded last year, it has emerged.

Almost one in three disability centres fail to ensure residents adequately safeguarded in 2018

Almost one in three disability centres failed to ensure that residents were adequately safeguarded last year, it has emerged.

The Health Information and Quality Authority has found that safeguarding issues continue to be raised regularly by inspectors.

Hiqa's director of regulation and chief inspector Mary Dunnion said “better protections” are needed to safeguard residents from abuse.

“We await the Minister for Health's approval of the National Standards for Adult Safeguarding, developed by Hiqa and the Mental Health Commission,” she said.

Ms Dunnion said the introduction of specific legislation would ensure a legal basis to safeguard people who live in residential care.

Hiqa is a member of the Department of Health's steering group to inform the development of the Health Sector Adult Safeguarding Policy and is a member of Safeguarding Ireland.

Ms Dunnion was commenting on the authority's report that provides an overview of the first five years of regulation of centres for people with a disability.

There were more than 800 centres when Hiqa started regulating the disability sector in November 2013 and the number has increased by 25% since then.

At the end of October, last year more than 8,800 people were living in 1,183 residential centres.

From November 2013 to the end of October last year there were more than 3,800 inspections carried out and 43% were unannounced.

Most were doing a good job but others were struggling and some were providing unsafe and substandard care.

“What really underpins a safe service is a culture which respects people's rights,” said Ms Dunnion.

A predominant safeguarding issue was having incompatible people living together.

Ms Dunnion said people with disabilities needed to have a quiet area to go to because they needed to calm down.

Staff also needed to understand what was happening instead of dealing with it as an issue.

Continued levels of non-compliance in relation to governance and management remained a cause for concern.

“Where a centre is poorly governed or managed, resident's care is adversely affected,” said Ms Dunnion.

Many residents continue to live in buildings no longer fit for purpose, which must be addressed by providers as a matter of urgency, she said.

Over the last five years, inspectors issued notices of a proposed decision to cancel the registration of 68 centres.

The notices were withdrawn from 51 centres who successfully addressed the issues raised. Other centres either closed or re-configured and applied for registration as a new centre.

The chief inspector cancelled the registration of 10 centres. The HSE is operating eight of the 10 centres and found a new provider of another centre. One centre closed voluntarily.

There were 117 centres with additional conditions of registration that required funding for infrastructural work or renovations to provide a safe and high-quality living environment.

Some of the centres were overcrowded with residents unable to live in harmony together or having to share bedrooms. There were also fire safety issues.

Many residents who continue to live in buildings no longer fit for purpose as they wait to move to community-based living.

This week eight of the centres had “time-bound” improvement plans accepted by the authority that continues to work with the other providers who need to improve their facilities.

Overall compliance with the regulations has increased from 59% to 76%. Protection from the risk of abuse increased from 50% to 70% and residents' rights from 56% to 76%.

Ms Dunnion said the report shows how regulation assures people who have family members living in designated centres and that significant improvements have been made.

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