Inspection reports

Mental Health Commission publishes nine inspection reports for seven approved centres

24 May 2023

The Mental Health Commission (MHC) has today published nine inspection reports, including two focused reports, which show significant non-compliances for the regulation on premises across all seven approved mental health centres inspected.

In total, the inspections found a total of seven critical-risk non-compliances for premises, and one additional high-risk non-compliances for the same regulation across centres in Cork, Kildare, Kilkenny, and Donegal.

The reports released today focus on:

Good practices and quality initiatives observed during inspections at the centres included the provision of a range of appropriate recreational activities for residents including board games, art materials, walks, outings, bingo, chess games, books, TV, dominoes, and music; monthly audits of all individual care plans; the translation of the resident admission pack into both Polish and Russian languages; and a ‘Mental Health Day celebration’ with tree planting of native Irish trees and an informational talk with a heritage week tree expert.

Poor practices found by inspectors during inspections included the presence of high risk-rated ligature points; a risk register that did not document identified risks relating to fire safety; a total of five showers available for 28 residents in one centre; the absence of locks on the internal and external doors of two male and female cubicle toilets near the main entrance at another centre; an assisted shower area which did not have enough room for a wheelchair; and significant fire safety deficits in another centre that included a fire door that contained glass, and another fire door that was partially blocked by laundry bags and a trolley.

The MHC requires corrective and preventive action plans (CAPAs) from all services where non-compliances are identified, each of which must address each non-compliance specifically. The MHC monitors the implementation of these CAPAs on an ongoing basis and requests further information and action as necessary. Enforcement action is taken when the MHC is concerned that the care and treatment provided in an approved centre may be a risk to the safety, health and wellbeing of residents, or where there has been a failure by the provider to address an ongoing area of non-compliance. All critical risk issues are considered by the MHC’s Regulatory Management Team (RMT) as a matter of course.

Enforcement actions commonly arise from inspection findings, quality and safety notifications, and compliance monitoring. Enforcement actions available to the MHC range from the aforementioned CAPAs (at the lower end of enforcement) to removing an approved centre from the register and/or pursuing prosecution (at the higher end).

Links to all reports published today can be found at the links below.

 

 

Back to News