MHC report high risk non-compliance in staff training across three approved mental health centres
The Mental Health Commission (MHC) published three inspection reports on Thursday 1st August 2019 following risk rating in approved centres in Dublin, Tipperary and Roscommon. This identified eight areas of high risk non-compliance in staff training.
There are 39 areas in the inspection process of approved mental health centres. Each approved centre is assessed against a suite of regulations, rules, and codes of practice.
The approved centres involved as follows;
The Department of Psychiatry, Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown: which has 47 beds and at the time of the inspection, there were 36 residents present. At the time of inspection, the centre had six high risk non-compliances for individual care planning, general health, privacy, maintenance of records, prescribing storing and administration of medicines and the use of physical restraint.
The Department of Psychiatry, Roscommon University Hospital: is registered for 22 residents, but there were 23 residents in the approved centre on the first day of the inspection. Although there has been continuous improvements in compliance ratings since 2017, the centre had two high risk ratings of non-compliance for premises and use of physical restraint.
Haywood Lodge Clonmel, Co Tipperary: a 40-bed in-patient unit showed some serious concerns about critical risk ratings of non-compliances with therapeutic services and programmes and an immediate Action Notice was issued.
Two of the approved centres also have a range of quality best practice initiatives highlighted in the inspection reports such as the introduced a smoking cessation group, dementia related education sessions for clinical staff, and the Irish Hospice Foundation’s Compassion End of Life (CEOL) programme to improve end of life care for residents and their families.
Commenting on the reports, Dr Susan Finnerty, Inspector of Mental Health Services, said: “It is difficult to understand the geographical disparities that arise in approved centres with poor practices and a steady decrease in compliance in a service in one part of the country and a marked increase in compliance and excellence in another part of the country. This amounts to a form of care injustice within the mental health services for service users. It also points to the importance of good governance in providing a quality service.”
Mr. John Farrelly, Chief Executive Mental Health Commission, said: “We cannot ignore the fact that not everyone is getting good care. It cannot be right that people’s care depends on where they live or the type of support they need. There were failures in clinical governance in one of the approved centres where compliance with regulatory requirements showed continued dis-improvement. There was no evidence that this was considered a serious risk or that actions were in place to address this. Governance is an area of serious concern to the Commission and there is no excuse for not having good governance in place, especially when addressing it would immediately improve the service for patients”
You can read our full statement here.
