IT WOULD be difficult in the event of fire to guarantee the safe evacuation of all residents from the largest public long-stay institution for older people in the State, a new report has found.
Consultants who visited the 320- bed St Mary’s Hospital in Dublin’s Phoenix Park said there were many residents with poor physical mobility and cognitive impairment being cared for on the second and third floors of the facility.
“In the event of fire, in our opinion, it would be difficult to guarantee safe evacuation of all residents and it poses a high-risk factor for the service, with the probability of fatalities,” their report said.
The report, prepared by Joe Wolfe Associates, was commissioned by the HSE over a year ago to see how St Mary’s complied with what were then new draft standards for residential facilities produced by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).
While the outside consultants, who completed their report last year, found many areas of good practice at the long-stay facility, it found the physical environment to be poor. Their report said residents’ privacy and dignity were compromised by lack of space and single rooms, there were not enough bathrooms and toilets and space within them was inadequate.
Window heights made it impossible for residents to see out “which deprives them of daily stimulation and opportunity to see the seasons change”. It also noted that the lack of a secure garden was depriving residents of the opportunity to walk around safely and experience daylight and fresh air.
The report also took issue with the extensive use of agency staff and overtime, not just for unforeseen contingencies. On a positive note, they found the standards in place within St Mary’s were by and large very good. “The vast majority of families and residents spoken to during this process were totally satisfied with the staff approach to them, with communication and most importantly with the quality of care.”
Overall they found that of 278 criteria to be met under the Hiqa draft standards, 78 per cent were met in full, 10 per cent were partially met and 12 per cent were not met. Most of the unmet standards related to the hospital’s physical environment, parts of which were built well over a century ago.
The HSE said the report had identified many aspects of good practice, but it acknowledged they had also highlighted the challenges facing the hospital in meeting standards required. It added that a new 50-bed community nursing unit was due to be completed this summer.