Nursing home defends record after conditions raised in Dáil

Conditions at the Ratoath Manor Nursing Home were raised in the Dáil recently by Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, while calling for a forensic audit of the €145 million in government supports paid to nursing home countrywide during the pandemic.

Recalling that more than 2,000 people who were residents of nursing homes died during Covid-19, he said: "Rightly and properly, the Government funded supports for nursing homes to the tune of, as of December 2022, €145 million. There are problems, however, regarding the funding of some of those nursing homes. An example on the HIQA website is Ratoath Manor nursing home, which received more than €405,000 in temporary assistance payment scheme (TAPS) supports. Yet it is quite clear that the HIQA inspectors are not assured that this is a well governed nursing home. There was extensive non-compliance over three consecutive inspections from September 2021 to March 2022."

However, a spokesperson for Ratoath Manor pointed out that over the last three years, Ratoath Manor was rated between 80-90per cent compliant with HIQA inspections.

“As per all nursing homes, Ratoath Manor is subject to high levels of independent regulation.

"National standards that encompass person-centered care, staffing, governance, and a nursing home’s physical environment. We take learnings from all inspections as we continually strive to improve the care offering for our residents and the working environment for our staff.

“We acknowledge HIQA’s report and findings, and note the positive feedback from residents reporting high standards of person-centric care being carried out by our experienced team, with HIQA observing the attentive, kind and respectful care provided by staff to residents, in line with their assessed needs.

"The regulator acknowledged Ratoath Manor is within a 200 year old historic building. In January 2022, updated standards relating to fire and premises caused some previously compliant buildings becoming non-compliant. This is particularly true of older, listed buildings such as Ratoath. Considerable investment is being allocated to improve the physical infrastructure, with HIQA complementing the physical layout and variety of communal areas available to residents."

In response to Deputy O'Dowd, Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly said; "Regardless of the efforts made, or the success or failure in any specific nursing home, we must still ensure that State funding is going to these homes to protect the residents."

A report published by HIQA following inspection on 23rd and 29th November last year showed the nursing home to be compliant with regulations in six out of 16 categories, substantially compliant in another one and non compliant in nine.

The report stated that overall feedback from residents was that they were very satisfied with their lives in the centre. "The staff were observed to deliver care and support to the residents, which was kind, respectful, and in line with their assessed needs.

A number of fire risks were identified in the report during both days of the inspection, but the inspectors acknowledged that following the first day of the inspection, the registered provider had taken action to reduce some of the risks that had been highlighted. "Nevertheless, on the second day of the inspection, most of the fire safety concerns identified on day one remained outstanding." These included lack of emergency lighting, significant deficits in fire containment measures, fire doors, precautions against the risk of fire and inappropriate storage practices of flammable materials.

The Ratoath Manor spokesperson said management are proactive in pursuing improvements in care standards, with the comprehensive action plan presented to HIQA being implemented on a day-to-day basis amongst staff to address issues identified in care standards.

He said the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS) was introduced by the Department of Health to support nursing homes that had incurred huge increases in expenditure to implement intensified public health measures and support resident care during the pandemic.

"TAPS was a contribution towards such costs, with strict and defined criteria applied providing transparency and accountability. All funds as a contribution to the costs were subject to a rigorous application process, including the provision of receipts. It was administered by the National Treatment Purchase Fund, acting on behalf of the State, and overseen by independent auditors that were appointed by the Department of Health.”

“The requirement for additional funding support was vital, in the midst of a never encountered before pandemic,” he said.