Today, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has published 41 inspection reports on infection control in designated centres for people with disabilities. HIQA inspects against the Health Act 2007 (Care and Support of Residents in Designated Centres for Persons (Children and Adults with Disabilities) Regulations 2013 and the National Standards for Residential Services for Children and Adults with Disabilities, which apply to residential services for people with disabilities in Ireland. 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure robust infection control measures beyond COVID-19, the Chief Inspector of Social Services commenced a programme of targeted inspections to assess registered providers’ compliance with Regulation 27: Protection against infection. The inspection programme aims to promote continuous quality improvement in infection prevention and control, in line with the National Standards for infection prevention and control in community services, (2018), as published by HIQA. 

Inspectors found a generally good level of compliance with the regulations and standards across 32 centres inspected with findings of either compliance or substantial compliance with Regulation 27. 

Good practice was observed by inspectors in centres operated by: Ability West, Avista CLG, Brothers of Charity Services Ireland CLG, Carriglea Cáirde Services, ChildVision CLG, Enable Ireland Disability Services Limited, GALRO Unlimited Company, Health Service Executive (HSE), KARE, Promoting Inclusion for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Muiríosa Foundation, Nua Healthcare Services Limited, Peter Bradley Foundation CLG, Praxis Care, Redwood Extended Care Facility Unlimited Company, Resilience Healthcare Limited, St John of God Community Services CLG, Stewarts Care Limited, The Cheshire Foundation in Ireland, and the Rehab Group.

Examples of good practice included:

• Policies and procedures had been developed in line with national guidance on infection, prevention and control.
• Information on infection, prevention and control measures was clearly communicated to both residents and staff in centres.
• Comprehensive plans were in place in centres to manage future outbreaks of infectious diseases including COVID-19.
• Learning from previous outbreaks of infectious diseases were shared across the provider’s designated centre to ensure effective measures were in place.
• Enhanced cleaning arrangements were in place to mitigate the risk of infection.

Nine centres operated by Brothers of Charity Services Ireland CLG, HSE, L'Arche Ireland, and St Michael's House were found to be non-compliant, which meant that residents were not being adequately protected from the risk of infection. These providers were required to take actions to improve their infection prevention and control arrangements. 

Examples of areas requiring improvement observed by inspectors included:

• Governance arrangements had not ensured that all staff had access to required infection, prevention and control training.
• Improved laundry and storage arrangements were required to reduce the risk of infection.
• Guidance was not available to staff on how to clean personal equipment used by residents and prevent the risk of infection.
• Isolation arrangements in the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease were not sufficiently detailed to guide staff practice.

Read all reports at the link below.