AN OFFICIAL inspection of a Limerick residential centre for adults with intellectual disabilities found the centre in breach of fire regulations and of personal data safeguards, with a resident’s personal details left in a communal area.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) made an unannounced inspection of the Brothers of Charity East Limerick Services in September and found the facility to be non-compliant with standards in five areas.
In one house, which was home to several residents and attended by various staff, inspectors found documents containing personal information about a resident of the house left in an open communal room.
Regulatory breaches relating to fire safety had been found on seven of the eight previous inspections of this centre carried out by HIQA since January 2015, the report stated.
On this inspection, it was found that fire doors were missing from one house in the centre, and the doors in the other three were in need of regular maintenance.
The report found that staff had raised issues about the fire doors as far back as December 2020.
The centre was also found to be understaffed and on some occasions, certain shifts in the centre, including nursing shifts, had not been covered.
Other areas where the centre was found to be non-compliant were resident’s rights and governance and management.
