inspection finds doors locked at dublin disability centre

An independent inspection of one of the country\'s largest centres for mentally retarded persons found that the inner door of a unit was locked.
It found that this practice violated the freedom of some adult residents.
After the center was accused of abuse, an unannounced inspection of Stewarts Care in west Dublin was carried out.
This is the first such audit conducted by the Health Information and Quality Authority.
It found that all residents were safe on the day of the inspection, but there were \"moderate non-
Compliance of the overall security arrangements for residents \".
HIQA\'s report on the Palmerstown Stewart Center is one of the 12 reports published today, the first audit under the new system of the National Centre for the monitoring of persons with disabilities.
The other 11 reports involved centres with fewer than 15 residents.
The Palmerstown center, however, accommodates 184 people, most of whom are mentally retarded adults, and HIQA chose it for its first unannounced inspection.
The report recalls that on December 5, Stewarts Care told HIQA that there were allegations of serious abuse in the center.
Although it is guaranteed that no staff members currently charged provide care, and the formal investigation by the Department of Management
The designated independent investigator has started and HIQA has conducted a sudden inspection of the center within a week.
The inspection found that all residents were safe on the day of the inspection;
There is a mild non
Compliance of residents\' overall security arrangements.
It says that a bungalow unit for adults has locked the door inside, which violates the freedom of some of them.
It added that while some residents may need this form of intervention, it has had a negative impact on other residents who may not need this restriction.
It is reported that Stewarts told HIQA that the practice of locking the door in the bungalow has stopped and the staff realized that this is forbidden, and in the next four months, A review of all door locks for all nine bungalows will be completed.
The report also said that some personal care plans did not specify the physical care interventions needed to help some residents, resulting in the possibility of inconsistent and inappropriate physical care.
The report says mechanisms for abuse need to be improved.