Crises in child protection services flagged by health watchdog

Ongoing crises in child-protection services and protection of vulnerable adults in State-funded services are highlighted in a report from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).

On Tuesday the health watchdog called for stronger safeguarding measures across nursing homes, residential services for people with disabilities, child-protection and foster-care services.

“Some services must take safeguarding more seriously, particularly having Garda vetting in place for all staff and volunteers” and the statutory funding bodies “need to take a greater role in holding those services to account”.

The conclusions are contained in a combined analysis of Hiqa's inspections of vulnerable adults' and children's services last year, titled Overview of 2016 Hiqa Regulation of Social Care and Healthcare Services.

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In the disability sector, the authority found that while many receive a "quality service... a significant number of people are experiencing a quality of life that is well below that which would be expected for citizens in this 21st-century Ireland.

“These people have been living over a long period of time in institutionalised services that do not promote centredness and where abuses of their rights have happened.”

Inspectors last year continued to find “outdated nursing home buildings [which] impact on residents’ privacy and dignity and their right to be safe while in long-term residential care”.

Intervention

In children’s services, “more work is needed to ensure all children receive a service that is appropriate to their assessed needs”.

It added: “There continue to be gaps in services in terms of children being allocated a social worker.” Of the 25,034 open cases – requiring intervention – reported to Hiqa by the Child and Family Agency last year, one in five remained unallocated to a social worker at the end of the year.

“These metrics do not include unallocated adult cases relating to retrospective allegations of abuse.”

A consistent theme throughout last year, says Hiqa, was the “critical importance” of good governance and management.

“Invariably where we find services that are well managed we also find residents and service users who enjoy a good quality service that protects and promotes their rights... On the other hand poor governance leads to poorer quality outcomes for residents and people using services.”

Providers should be accountable to service users and service funders.

Mary Dunnion, Hiqa's chief inspector of social services and director of regulation, said a "clear national policy direction" was needed in the Health Service Executive, along with clear "policy implementation and timely decisions making" processes.