HIQA INSPECTORS HAVE said there were a number of “ongoing safeguarding concerns”, including allegations of sexual abuse, at a centre for adults with intellectual disabilities in Dublin.

An announced HIQA inspection was carried out at the end of May in Coolfin, a centre operated by St Micheal’s House.

Located in North County Dublin, it provides residential care and support for up to six adults with intellectual disabilities and five residents were present on the day of the inspection.

This announced inspection was carried out to inform a decision on the provider’s application to renew the registration of the centre.

While the inspector found that residents “received good care and support”, it was also found that the “incompatibility of some residents continued to pose an ongoing risk to their safety and wellbeing”.

The centre was deemed to be compliant or substantially compliant in most areas, but was deemed not compliant when it came to protection.

This is because the inspector found there to be “ongoing safeguarding concerns and incidents, including physical aggression, verbal and psychological abuse, and allegations of sexual abuse”.

The inspector said “these were attributable to the incompatibility of residents, and had been reported in previous inspections of the centre”.

The inspector noted that these issues were “long standing” and that the provider had attended a “cautionary meeting” last October due to “poor findings” in relation to safeguarding residents from “peer-to-peer abuse”.

Meanwhile, staff told the inspector that “incidents were happening on a regular basis, and were having an adverse impact on residents’ quality of life”.

The inspector noted that safeguarding plans had been developed, outlining the interventions to keep residents safe from abuse.

The provided had also allocated additional staffing resources and the person in charge “arranged regular holidays for a resident to reduce the amount of time they were in the centre”.

However, staff informed the inspector that this had a “limited effectiveness”.

Meanwhile, during the May inspection, the person in charge and the clinical nurse manager told the inspector that the “behavioural incidents in the centre could be unpredictable and difficult to manage”.

They added that “residents and staff were exposed to regular abusive behaviours”.

However, management said they were “satisfied with the staffing arrangements”.

While many aspects of the centre were to a high standard, the inspector warned that the “incompatibility of residents and associated safeguarding concerns which presented in 2022 had not been resolved”.

It was further warned that this meant residents were “living in a centre that did not protect them from potential and actual abuse”.

The provider told the inspector that it was hoped these issues would be resolved “by moving one resident to a more appropriate home”.

Elsewhere, the centre was deemed not compliant in the area of individual assessment and personal plan.

This too was “in relation to the required living arrangements for one resident and their incompatibility with other residents which was resulting in ongoing safeguarding concerns”.

In response, the provider told HIQA that it will provide more “extra nights away from the centre for one resident” and that the resident and their family are “very happy” about the new apartment they will be moving to.