New HIQA report says Fermoy hospital has addressed issues identified in 2022

FERMOY Community Hospital has addressed a number of issues identified in a report by HIQA during a previous inspection. 

A new report on an inspection at the facility noted that, though it is set in a former workhouse, “efforts had been made to create a less institutional, more homely environment.”

The work was continuing at the time of inspection, with ongoing refurbishment and the addition of eight new single en-suite rooms.

A report at the end of 2022 found the hospital to be non-compliant in all three categories it was inspected in, namely; governance and management, premises, and fire precaution.

The 2022 report of the centre had stated “significant fire safety risks were identified,” but the new report notes “the provider had taken appropriate steps to ensure that fire safety was well managed in the centre, and issues previously identified had been addressed”.

The new report said “staff treated residents with great kindness, and they were committed to upholding their rights.”

There was evidence of quality improvement strategies and ongoing monitoring of the service, with falls, complaints, and incidents “trended for improvement”.

There were sufficient staff on duty to meet the needs of residents, and residents “were overwhelmingly complimentary about staff and management”.

Overall, the centre was marked substantially compliant in four areas, compliant in 17 of 22 areas, and one not compliant in Regulation 17: Premises, with the report explaining “available individual space in some rooms was not suitable for meeting residents’ privacy, personal, and care needs.”

The ‘compliance plan provider’s response’ section at the end of the report stated: “Every effort is currently being made to ensure that residents have a homely environment.

“There is live and ongoing risk assessment of the spaces in the shared rooms, taking into consideration the clinical dependency of each resident in these areas.”

The report was one of seven new inspection reports for centres for older people in Cork published this week.