HIQA publishes overview of inspection and monitoring activity in eight Stewarts Care Limited centres

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published an overview report of inspection activity undertaken by the Office of the Chief Inspector of Social Services within HIQA between 2017 and 2018 in eight designated centres for people with disabilities, operated by Stewarts Care Limited in Dublin.

During 2017 and early 2018, inspectors of social services found that residents living in centres operated by Stewarts Care Ltd had a poor quality of life, were not being adequately safeguarded and were not being provided with a quality of service that they were entitled to. In addition, the provider did not demonstrate an ability to address the areas of non-compliance in an effective way that improved life for all residents in the centres.

Subsequently, the Chief Inspector within HIQA deployed a range of regulatory measures to improve the outcome for residents, particularly in relation to six centres located on Stewarts Care Limited’s campus in Dublin 20 and two community-based centres located in County Dublin.

This report, Overview of HIQA’s inspection and monitoring activity in Stewarts Care Limited 2017-2018, summarises the Chief Inspector’s escalated regulatory programme in Stewarts Care Limited and includes a summary of:

engagement between inspectors and Stewarts Care Limited during this time
findings from the 2017 inspections
findings from four inspections carried out between February to July 2018 to monitor improvements. These four reports are published in full today, and
what residents told inspectors and what inspectors observed during visits to meet with residents which were undertaken in September 2018.

In order to drive improvements for residents living in these eight centres, the Chief Inspector undertook an escalated regulatory programme to ensure that Stewarts Care Limited improved oversight of the care and support provided to residents. This programme included:

requiring the provider to submit a six-month improvement plan
requiring the provider to submit a monthly status report on the implementation of its improvement plan
monthly meetings between the provider and inspectors from January to June 2018, and
carrying out announced and unannounced follow-up inspections and site visits to verify information given by the provider, and to check whether residents’ quality of life was improving.

To date, inspectors have found that improvements have been made in the safety and the quality of life for many residents, and in the physical environment that residents live in. However, this was not consistent in all centres and further progress and improvement was required to ensure all residents were provided with high-quality and safe services.

HIQA will continue to maintain regulatory oversight across services provided by Stewarts Care Limited to ensure that improvements are sustained, and to promote ongoing improvement for residents in these services and their families.

Read the overview report and inspection reports below.

For further information please contact:

Marty Whelan, Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement

(01) 8147480 / 086 2447623

mwhelan@hiqa.ie

Notes to Editor:

HIQA inspects residential and respite services for people with disabilities 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.
The overview report refers to an escalated regulatory programme in eight designated centres operated by Stewarts Care Limited:
As of January 2019, there were 152 residents still living on the campus.
Further inspections, as part of the provider’s reconfiguration plan, have taken place in 2019 which found sustained improvements, with further progress required to address areas of non-compliance. Reports on 2019 inspections will be published in the coming weeks.
A full list of engagement between HIQA and Stewarts Care Limited during this period is detailed in Appendix 1 of the overview report.