Care homes score well in watchdog inspections

UNANNOUNCED inspections by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) found two West Cork care facilities to have caring staff who gave its residents a good quality of life.

CareChoice Clonakilty  Clogheen  and the HSE operated Kinsale Community Hospital were subject to inspections by the watchdog last October and November respectively.

The Clonakilty centre provides long stay and respite care to older people and is registered for the care of 50 residents.

Overall, this inspection found it was a well-established centre. 

Residents told the inspector that they felt safe and that they were very content living there. The inspector observed there was a warm, friendly atmosphere throughout the centre. Residents who spoke with the inspector said that they were well cared for by nice staff and they were provided with the help and support they needed. 

However, some residents told the inspector that on some evenings recently, staff were busy and could not always attend to them immediately.

This meant that they sometimes had to wait for their care needs to be met. 

Residents spoken with also expressed satisfaction with the quality, quantity and variety of food. 

Overall the inspection found it was a good centre where residents were supported and facilitated to have a good quality of life. Some areas that required to be addressed, as per the findings of this inspection were care planning, supervision arrangements of staff, healthcare, fire precautions and staffing, however the centre was found to be either compliant, or substantially compliant across all categories of inspection. 

The  inspection in Kinsale Community Hospital found that a good standard of healthcare and very good opportunity for social engagement. However, improvements were required in the areas of record keeping, recruitment practices, complaints management and in the monitoring of infection control practices and risk within the centre. 

Overall, residents spoken with by the inspector provided very positive feedback about the care they received and the services provided in Kinsale Community Hospital. One resident told the inspector they ‘couldn’t wish to be in a better place’’ and another said they were ‘lucky to get such wonderful care.’ 

The inspector observed that the majority of the centre such as bedrooms and communal rooms were generally clean throughout. 

However, some rooms such as the utility rooms and kitchenettes were seen to be visibly unclean, which required to be addressed. 

It scored either compliant or substantially compliant in all areas except for records and complaints procedures which were found to be non-compliant.