Fire safety concerns at several residential care facilities for people with disabilities in Dublin

Inspections carried out by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) have revealed fire safety concerns at a number of residential care facilities for people with disabilities in Dublin.

On Monday, Hiqa published inspection reports into 27 designated centres for people with disabilities nationwide. Of these, Hiqa said that inspectors found a “generally good level of compliance with the regulations and standards” in 17, while non-compliance was identified in the remaining 10.

Cheeverstown Community Services, a facility located in Tempelogue and Kimmage, south Dublin, was found by inspectors to lack doors and windows that could provide “effective containment of fire or smoke”. The centre also lacked features such as smoke seals, intumescent strips or self-closing devices to contain the spread of fire or smoke.

Mobility equipment

Certain buildings in the facility had also failed to carry out fire drills at night where only one staff member would be on duty to help residents evacuate safely. The inspection revealed that residents who were more independent to evacuate themselves were being “delayed in doing so due to difficulty getting their mobility equipment over the thresholds of the external doors”.

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Similar fire safety concerns were identified at another south Dublin centre operated by the same provider, Cheeverstown House Residential Services. According to Hiqa, there was no indication of how long it would take to evacuate the facility at night. An “urgent action plan” was requested from the provider to submit evidence of the ability to safely evacuate residents during “minimal staffing levels”.

According to the published inspection, such an action plan to show evidence of nighttime fire drills that took place less than a week after the initial inspection was subsequently submitted. The facility also pledged to carry out assessments to determine the level of support required for residents to manage their own finances after inspectors found that practices “did not optimise ready access and control of residents’ money”.

Fire drills

In the Tempelogue facility, the provider said that doors and glass panels that are not rated to provide effective containment or fire or smoke will be replaced in two of its buildings by the end of October and November respectively. The provider also said that nighttime fire drills will have taken place by the end of July 2023.

Elsewhere, at the Lios Mór facility in Limerick, an unannounced inspection found that “instances of residents suffering minor injuries had not been notified on a quarterly basis as required”. The report also expressed concern that “allegations and incidents of a safeguarding nature had not been notified within three working days, nor had some staff misconduct issues”.

Brothers of Charity Services Ireland, which runs the Lios Mór centre, said all three-day and quarterly notifications will be submitted in accordance with the regulations and that training in notification of incidents will be delivered to staff.

At another Limerick centre operated by the same provider, Waxwing 2, inspectors found unsuitable premises due to small rooms that were “not suited to residents with mobility issues”. Hiqa’s report noted the Brothers of Charity Services Ireland had submitted a “time-bound plan ... to move premises to a bespoke building by year-end 2024″. The Brothers of Charity Services Ireland said the move to two new properties in Limerick will “enhance the living environment for residents”.