Food at Cork nursing home left sitting for 10 minutes before serving

Food was left sitting for 10 minutes before serving, and staff were not trained in evacuating residents in the event of a fire, in a nursing home on the northside of Cork city, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has found.

An inspection into HSE-run Heather House Community Nursing Unit, located at St Mary’s Health Campus, Gurranabraher, found it to be compliant in 10 areas, substantially compliant in seven and not compliant in three.

Residents had access to a variety of activities on a daily basis, with an external activities company on site three days a week and a member of staff rostered to facilitated activities on the other days.

Residents were seen to go out with staff and with family members and told inspectors that this was a regular occurrence, and they spoke positively about the management and staff in the centre in general.

Fire safety

However, there were a range of issues related to fire safety: The fire watch staff on duty on the second day of inspection had not received training and did not know the evacuation procedure.

Evidence of full compartment evacuations were not seen in the records provided to the inspector, and there was no evidence to show that drills and evacuations were completed to be assured that it could be completed safely and timely.

A fire safety assessment from August identified that fire compartments may not be effective. While interim mitigating measures had been implemented, there was no definitive date for commencement of the upgrade works to fire compartment boundaries.

The emergency lighting externally did not provide sufficient coverage to guide safe escape towards the assembly point, and service reports for the emergency lighting and fire detection showed neither had been serviced since February, despite requiring servicing quarterly.

The inspector also noted that trays to serve residents in their bedrooms were prepared 10 minutes before staff were available to bring meals to these residents, meaning “meals would not be served at the optimum temperature for residents to enjoy”.

Poorly maintained 

There were also a number of issues regarding the premises; the only outdoor space available to residents was poorly maintained, with walkways un-kept, weeds and shrubbery overgrown, and garden furniture covered in debris.

The wardrobe space available to residents in the twin and four-bedded multi-occupancy rooms was not in line with a human rights-based approach to living in a residential care setting.

The single wardrobe they were provided with did not provide adequate hanging or storage space for residents.

“This has continued to be a repeat finding over all inspections undertaken in Heather House,” the inspector noted.

The HSE told HIQA: “The provision of storage has been considered by the service, and the design team have been engaged to propose solutions for additional storage.”

They also assured the regulatory body that the fire evacuation assistant staff are now fully trained with the changed fire strategy, that other fire safety issues were addressed as part of ongoing construction on the site, and that the courtyard was now “maintained well and presentable”.

They added that all staff have been communicated with about meals for residents in the bedrooms not being taken out from a hot trolley and kept in a serving trolley until the staff are ready to serve them.