Hiqa inspection finds faeces stains in resident’s bed

An inspection by the State healthcare watchdog has criticised conditions in a care home for residents with intellectual disabilities, after finding “faeces stains” in a bed that had been made, as well as an incontinence sheet left unchanged.

A report from the Health and Information Quality Authority (Hiqa) found Evergreen Lodge disability centre was not meeting standards when it came to infection control, following an unannounced inspection on February 10th.

The inspection found the bedding in one resident’s room was “visibly unclean”, with inspectors observing “faeces stains” despite the bed having been made.

The centre in Co Meath, run by Redwood Extended Care Facility Unlimited Company, houses five adults with intellectual disabilities.

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In another bedroom an incontinence sheet on a chair was “heavily urine stained” and had been left unchanged, the report said.

The provider said it intended to review its cleaning schedule in the centre to ensure all bedding was changed daily and incontinence wear was disposed of appropriately.

The regulator criticised the state of repair of another centre, St Teresa’s Services in Galway, run by Ability West charity, which provides respite care to children with intellectual disabilities.

An inspection on February 8th said the facility was “not an inviting space to welcome children”, with two sitting rooms that were “essentially bare”.

The report, published on Tuesday, said “the walls were bare with paintwork that was clearly old, heavily marked and altogether not very child friendly”.

Hiqa inspectors said the centre was “not kept in a good state of repair either externally or internally”. There was one swing in the back garden that “appeared old and unused”, with no other outside areas where children could play.

The charity also needed to “urgently review” its policy around the storage of syringes for medication purposes, the report said.

“There was multiple stacked baskets in the kitchen with syringes out of packets belonging to different children and there was a significant risk of cross contamination,” it said.

A centre run by St John of Gods Community Services in Co Louth, the Gables, was not compliant with infection control.

An inspection report found there was “inadequate oversight of environmental hygiene”, as well as criticising how the centre stored personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning items. Inspectors said this meant that residents were “exposed to potential hazards”.