Nursing home was potential fire trap

St Joseph's Hospital had inadequate precautions in place against the risk of fire or systems for giving warnings about an outbreak.

Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) inspectors said they were also very concerned at the lack of signs that would direct staff and residents where to go in the event of fire.

Three of the residents smoked and their care plans were vague. Staff at the facility on Lifford Road, Ennis, Co Clare said they did not have time to monitor when they smoked.

A number of fire alarms failed to operate in June and around 19 staff had not attended fire safety training.

The report said the majority of residents spent their day in bed or at their bedsides. They had limited space for the storage of personal possession. There was one shower among 24 residents. They were mostly in rooms with six beds. They had no means of securing privacy other than closing their bed screen. They would need to have been assisted to leave the unit and access communal space along the main "long corridor".

Pleasant

The available physical facilities did not provide for pleasant dining surroundings, did not enhance the social dimension of meals and did not give residents the opportunity to interact and engage with each other.

With the exception of a unit which had a dining room only a small number of residents took their meals in the limited communal space.

The majority of the residents had their meals served to them on trays while in bed or at their bedside.

The inspectors also criticised the system where the last substantive meal of the day was served as early as 4pm. Hot and cold drinks were not offered between meals, except at 7.30pm and 9.30pm.

Inspectors said that given the dependency of the residents it did not believe it was right that they request snacks rather than be offered them.

In response the management of the home said they would implement an action plant set up by HIQA. The failures in relation to fire safety have been addressed and risk assessments have been carried out on each resident who smokes.

More fire safety training is under way for staff. It has asked residents to give their views on mealtimes and reviewed the availability of snacks and drinks.