Tipperary nursing home stops taking new residents over governance and safety issues
St Theresaâs Nursing Home in Cashel was not compliant with nine of the 10 standards it was assessed against by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) last year. File picture
A nursing home in Tipperary has stopped taking in new residents due to problems with governance and safety identified by health inspectors.
St Theresaâs Nursing Home in Cashel was not compliant with nine of the 10 standards it was assessed against by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) last year.
Inspectors described how challenging it was to get in contact with someone responsible for the home.
âNeither director of the company was available on the day of inspection. The person in charge was communicating with a third party who was not a director of Cashel Care Limited,â the report said.
An assistant director of nurses responsible for infection control was on a night shift due to the shortage of night staff.
Overall, inspectors said âinadequate resources and the poorly defined organisational structureâ made it difficult for managers to make sure residents were safe.
Last October four elderly residents were treated for a contagious skin condition. This has already happened in the same bedrooms the year before.
The sitting room was cold with heaters not working properly, and lights in hallways were flickering leaving the area difficult to navigate. There were not enough nurses or kitchen staff to cope with the number of residents in the three-storey building.
By the time of the inspection late last year, new admissions had been stopped due to the home not addressing problems highlighted in previous inspections.
âAt this inspection, there was little progress made to address deficits to the premises and there was further non-compliance identified,â the report said.
New inspection reports published on Thursday can be read on the Hiqa website.
