Cork centre for people with disabilities found not compliant in three areas during inspection 

The complaints policy and night-staffing arrangements were identified in a recent Hiqa inspection of a Cork centre for people with disabilities.

An inspection of No 4 Seaholly, operated by the Brothers of Charity Services, found that the centre was compliant in six areas, substantially compliant in five, and not compliant in three.

The inspector noted that there was a lack of evidence that the person in charge had oversight of the staffing supports at night.

The person in charge was not aware that one staff member had completed 12 night-duty shifts in a 14-day period. 

It was also not clear to whom the night co-ordinator reported, as one document reflected the team leader, while another stated the person in charge.

Additionally, though staff were afforded the opportunity to raise concerns through several platforms, including team meetings and informal visits, staff on night duties did not attend team meetings.

While documentation stated this could be completed through a video-conferencing platform, this facility was not offered to staff to ensure all of them could raise concerns.

Following the completion of all monitoring systems, an action plan was developed to ensure any actions were addressed in a timely manner. This identified actions to be completed within the centre, but a number of areas of concern were not included, such as risk assessments, fire safety, and the complaints procedure.

The inspector reviewed the complaints folder maintained by the person in charge, which did not show adherence to the provider’s policy, including communication with the complainant and, where possible, the satisfaction of the complainant.

The provider had appointed a third party to investigate a complaint should a resolution not be obtained within the allocated timeframe, but this had not been implemented.

For one complaint reviewed by the inspector, there was no evidence of review by the complaints officer, despite the complaint being open more than six months.

Finally, while the risk assessments in place had been reviewed, this did not include a review of the rating of the identified risk, and it had been “a number of years” since some were updated.

The provider informed Hiqa that new policies were in place to ensure oversight over rostering, and that the issues with risk assessments, fire safety, and the complaints policy had been addressed.