Inspection reports

MHC statement on publication of inspection reports for five approved mental health centres

The Mental Health Commission (MHC) has published five inspection reports for approved inpatient mental health centres across Dublin and Clare. 

The centres inspected were:

  • National Eating Disorders Recovery Centre, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, which received 100% compliance with the rules, regulations and codes of practice.
  • Ginesa Suite,St John of God Hospital, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, which received 100% compliance with the rules, regulations and codes of practice.
  • Adolescent In-patient Unit, St Vincent's Hospital, Fairview, Dublin 3, which received 88% compliance with the rules, regulations and codes of practice.  
  • Ashlin Centre,HSE North Dublin Mental Health Services, Dublin 9, which received 88% compliance with the rules, regulations and codes of practice.
  • Acute Psychiatric Unit, Ennis Regional Hospital, Co. Clare, which received 82% compliance with the rules, regulations and codes of practice. 

The inspector found generally high levels of compliance with the rules, regulations and codes of practice. Two centres were 100% compliant, while three centres were between 80-90% compliant. 

Some areas of good practices observed over the course of the inspections included:

  • St John of God Hospital Services – which governs Ginesa Suite - have continued to add medicines information videos to their online youth medicines information resource - www.youthmed.info - which now hosts 26 co-designed videos on the most commonly used mental health medicines for children and young people. In addition, an advanced specialist pharmacist meets each young person after admission or following the initiation of a new medicine and shows them the videos to ensure that they have access to information on the medication they are prescribed.
  • The National Eating Disorders Recovery Centre provided residents with a key worker to facilitate coordination and communication of interventions in line with their individual care plan. They integrated CHIME (Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning & Empowerment) into the Individual Care Plans and held regular monthly audits of all individual care plans to ensure the minimum standards required of the regulation were achieved.

There were no critical risk non-compliances, but high-risk non-compliances observed during inspections were:

  • One high-risk non-compliance with the Regulation on Premises at the Adolescent In-patient Unit, St Vincent's Hospital.
  • Three high-risk non-compliances with the Regulations on Privacy; Premises and Maintenance of Records at the Acute Psychiatric Unit, Ennis Regional Hospital
  • Two high-risk non-compliances with the Regulations on Premises and the Code of Practice on the Use of Physical Restraint at the Ashlin Centre.

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 at 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 the Reports

Back to News