The interim report published by HIQA on Wednesday this week makes for grim reading, as straight away one can see there were 40 allegations of abuse made to HIQA about The Residence Portlaoise, and at least three protected disclosures from a qualified professional or employee; in Firstcare Beneavin Manor, there were an astonishing 198 allegations of abuse, and 32 other instances of information supplied to HIQA.
HIQA say, with infuriating glibness, that these allegations ‘may or may not be substantiated’; are these professionals honestly saying that 198 allegations didn’t seem remarkable to them, and that these were 198 nuisance or imagined claims?
Past HIQA reports from these centres also display a wondrous inhumanity; in January 2024 in Glasnevin, HIQA found one elderly resident was in bed for 15 hours, ‘and despite several calls to assist them out of bed in the morning there was no staff available’.
HIQA determined that this meant the centre was ‘substantially compliant’ in respecting this person’s rights.
On what planet does leaving an elderly person in bed for most of the day, with their calls ignored, mean that their rights were respected, more or less?
Another report at the same centre found food served too cold, and of clients given tea or coffee without asking or checking how they liked it.
What utter disrespect to these people, to give them any old thing to eat or drink. What must these residents have thought, when they maybe had a little hope when they saw an inspector witness all of this, to have their pain seen, but ultimately ignored.
This same report revealed a dirty premises, a broken call-bell system, and the temperature inside the centre was 28 degrees with a broken air conditioning system. The inspection took place over two days, and it was hot both days. Guess what HIQA said to all of this? The premises was, again, ‘substantially compliant’.
In Portaloise, there was concerns about the lines of accountability, about risk management concerning ‘two significant incidents’ where residents left on their own.
All of these incidents – and that’s the dry, impersonal language of these reports – resulted in more inspections. Inspections, on top of inspections, on top of inspections.
Now, these inspection reports are publicly available, and while it is sensibly and reasonably assumed that if someone trusts a centre, they don’t need to check these reports, but as Prime Time has shown more than once, it is imprudent not to.
HIQA also, somewhat justifiably, say that ‘staff that behave in the manner presented on the RTÉ Investigates programme will not behave like that when an inspector is present’. Well, d’uh. That’s what an inspector is looking for, surely; indicators of what is happening when they’re not present. It is pure wilful ignorance to think that the best behaviour of staff on any given day reflects the reality when the cameras are off, pardon the pun.
At the time of writing, HIQA are in front of the Public Accounts Committee. Another day, another committee, another horse-and pony show for the public.
