Major fire safety issues uncovered at Tipperary care home

Safety standards at a Co Tipperary centre for people with disabilities have been criticised by health inspectors, who said they would be "inadequate to evacuate" the property in a fire.

The issues were uncovered during a recent Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) inspection of St Anne’s Residential Services, which is run by the Daughters of Charity Disability Support Services Company. The centre has residential care homes in Templemore and Thurles.

One resident in the centre was living in a room with no fire escape route other than to pass through the centre’s kitchen and utility room.

A previous fire safety report carried out in January 2015 at the centre advised all rooms should have direct access out onto the hallway leading to an exit.

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A previous inspection report advised that sets of fire doors be installed in the building’s corridors, or alternatively a sprinkler system, to help stop the spread of a fire in the care centre. However, the inspector found these measures had not been carried out.

The Hiqa inspection found the current arrangements were non-compliant with health and safety standards for residents. The report concluded that "significant improvement was required in terms of fire safety arrangements" at the centre.

The centre has a member of staff sleep in each care house through the night in case of an incident or emergency, but the Hiqa inspection recommended a member of staff should be awake and on duty through the night.

Privacy

The Hiqa inspection also found three other areas where there was major non-compliance with residents’ rights.

In one house, residents could only use the shower by walking through a utility room and kitchen, which the inspection found “did not ensure complete privacy for residents”.

The report stated that each resident’s privacy and dignity was not respected under the current arrangement.

The report recommended the company managing the centre should submit a costed plan to redesign the internal layout of the house to the Health Service Executive, to address the situation.

The unannounced inspection also found evidence of mould “clearly visible” on the walls of one of the care homes’ wet rooms.

A second Hiqa inspection of another St Anne’s Residential Services centre in Offaly found similar concerns over residents’ privacy.

The inspection found residents in the Offaly care home could only access the downstairs shower by walking through the kitchen and livingroom area. The upstairs shower did not have a grab rail installed, resulting in residents having to use the downstairs shower.

The report judged the arrangement to be non-compliant with residents’ rights to privacy, and recommended the upstairs bathroom be properly fitted out for residents to shower in.