Children at a Dublin creche were given medication without their parents’ signed consent and sustained injuries that parents were not informed about, an inspection by Tusla has found.
An unannounced inspection of Crumlin Childcare Centre (CCC), a not-for-profit service, found children were in cold and dirty conditions while exposed to possible infection as they shared bedclothes and ate from tables that were not cleaned before meals.
Conducted on October 9th and 10th last year, the inspection came after another in April identified “significant levels of noncompliance ... across a number of regulations”. This latest inspection found “repeat non-compliances” in governance, infection control and communication with parents. “It was observed that corrective and preventive actions submitted previously ... to address noncompliance ... had not been implemented.”
CCC, located on Windmill Road in Crumlin village, provides education and care to toddlers and primary-school children, aged between one and six years.
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At the time of the inspection CCC had three rooms operating while a fourth, the baby room, had been closed since May 2024. A total of 31 and 33 children were present in the first and second mornings of the inspection respectively, with 19 and 29 children present in the afternoons.
Inspectors found “an adequate number of adults were working with the children on both days”, with nine “working directly” with children each day. “Over both days of inspection inspectors did not observe any care practices that were harmful to children,” said the report.
However, the “designated person in charge” did not have “sufficient knowledge of the policies and procedures” and it was not clear “all employees were provided ... with appropriate ... training”.
There was no record of induction training for four staff who had started six months before the inspection and two showed they were “unaware of the requirements of the infection control and medication policy”, stating “they had not received formal training on them”.
Records of all medication administered to children since the last inspection were reviewed. “Although records of administration were available five of the [15] forms were not completed appropriately and did not contain signed parental consent,” said the report.
“This is at variance with the medication policy in place in the service. This poses a risk to the continuity of care to a child.”
Inspectors found “147 records of all accidents and incidents which had occurred in the service” since April 2024 were reviewed. “Four accident and incident forms ... did not contain any evidence that parents had been made aware of an injury to their child.”
Sheets and blankets used by children for naps were “not managed appropriately”. They “were not assigned to an individual child” but stored daily, mixed together in one storage-box, and washed weekly.
On children’s handwashing: “Staff ... were observed using a communal bowl of soapy water ... dipping each child’s hand one after the other in it to handwash.”
Children’s snacks were “placed directly on the table” on tissues which “became wet and torn [and] ineffective for infection control purposes. These tables were not cleaned prior to mealtimes,” said the report.
Other failings included fire drills not happening monthly; children not being checked in and out properly; the premises not adequately heated and “not ... cleaned, maintained and repaired as required”.
CCC plans to address the non-compliances that are detailed in the report.
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