Most staff at care centre ‘unwilling to drive wheelchair bus’, Hiqa inspection finds

Wheelchair users were less able than their peers to take part in activities outside a Cork residential centre due to staff not being willing to drive the wheelchair bus, Hiqa has found.

Oakvale, run by the HSE, provides high support residential care for up to 28 adults with an intellectual disability and/or autism and acquired brain injury.

While the inspector noted that residents “were overall being well cared for in the centre” and found that improvements were occurring since previous inspections, “there was limited evidence to show that the provider had full oversight of some ongoing non-compliance in the centre or was responding to this in a timely manner”.

It was marked compliant in five areas, substantially compliant in four, and not compliant in five.

In particular, although noted improvements had been made in relation to the activation of residents, some residents continued to have limited access to community-based activity and opportunities to leave the centre regularly, and the provider had not yet fully implemented the actions to address this outlined in their compliance plan for the previous inspection.

There was also limited evidence to show that the facilities available in the centre were fully used for the benefit of residents.

For example, there was a well-equipped sensory room with a water-bed in the centre which was used only once during the inspection. The use of this room for storing wheelchairs and other equipment indicated that this room was not in regular use.

All residents did not have access to meaningful occupation and to regular community access and this impacted on residents’ capacity to exercise personal independence and choice in their daily lives, Hiqa said.

Some improvements had been made in this area, but this inspection found that wheelchair users continued to be particularly impacted.

A number of vehicles were available that were dedicated for use by residents in this centre, including a wheelchair-accessible bus.

However, on examining the ‘limited records available’ in relation to the bus booking schedule for the previous months, an inspector saw that the accessible bus was not regularly booked or used by the units in the centre and ‘appeared to be regularly idle’, despite there being sufficient staff numbers on duty in the centre.

Also, at least six residents in the centre required the wheelchair bus for transportation, and only one or two of these residents could travel in the bus at any one time.

The person in charge told inspectors that ‘most staff were not willing to drive this vehicle’ and that it was hoped to purchase a second wheelchair-accessible vehicle with fundraising money.

The HSE told Hiqa: “Work is ongoing in the centre to continue to improve the access to activities and the support for residents to identify and achieve meaningful goals for residents. This will continue to be a priority for the service.”