A HIQA report has called for further improvements at St Vincent’s Car Centre to enhance the privacy enjoyed by its residents.
The report, published last week, is for the most part positive, noting that the centre has improved on 11 of the 15 recommendations made after the last inspection in March, 2016, when safety concerns and privacy issues forced the closure of the centre and the temporary relocation of its residents to alternative care facilities outside of Athlone. Of the four recommendations not yet satisfied, all have been progressed.
However, the report notes that “the absence of ensuite facilities and the provision of curtain screening between beds in multiple occupancy bedrooms did not ensure residents’ privacy and dignity needs were met in terms of noise, odours, toileting, and washing”.
The HSE has said that it is now working to introduce curtain screening by the end of October that will maximise residents privacy and dignity.
Residents spoken with during this inspection and feedback from pre-inspection questionnaires referenced satisfaction with the service provided, care given, and the staff team in the centre. Many commented on their satisfaction with being back living in the centre and closer to their families.
The inspector observed that all interactions by staff with residents were courteous, respectful, and kind, and that systems are in place to ensure residents were appropriately safeguarded. Residents’ healthcare needs are being met to a good standard. Communal rooms, bedrooms and circulating areas were bright, in a good state of repair, and well decorated, as are the residents’ rooms.
However, while an individual television was made available for most residents, there was no individual discreet listening equipment provided that ensured individual residents in multiple occupancy bedrooms could view and hear different programmes on each television device if they wished. The HSE said it will rectify this by providing wireless headphones for residents in these rooms.
