By Darragh Bermingham
ALMOST 40 concerns were raised with the health watchdog regarding nursing homes in Donegal in 2023, this newspaper can reveal.
Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) received 36 concerns about nursing homes in Donegal last year.
There are around 13 private nursing homes in Donegal currently registered with HIQA.
In total, more than 400 concerns were seen under the FOI Act, with around 150 redacted by HIQA.
Concerns highlighted alleged issues relating to safeguarding and the rights and protection of residents, as well as governance and management of nursing homes.
Others alleged concerns regarding the quality of care provided by some nursing homes, and highlighted alleged issues with communication from staff and infection prevention and control measures.
Some raised concerns about staffing levels and fall management.
In a previous statement to this reporter, a spokesperson for HIQA said all unsolicited information received is acknowledged, logged and examined by the health watchdog.
“If the information relates to a service within HIQA’s remit, it is reviewed by an inspector to establish if the information received indicates a risk to the safety, effectiveness, and management of the service, and the day-to-day care the resident or patient receives.”
If HIQA considers that a nursing home may not be compliant with regulations or national standards, it can request additional information on the issue, request a plan from the nursing home on how it will be investigated and addressed, or carry out an unannounced inspection.
HIQA’s chief inspector of social services, Carol Grogan, spoke about the health watchdog’s procedure regarding concerns at a Joint Health Committee in October last year.
“We welcome feedback from people who use services, as well as their families, friends and members of the public, in relation to any of the services we regulate or monitor,” she said.
“They can contact us in a variety of ways; email and phone are the most preferred when we look back on our statistics.
“Some 189 concerns were received by email by the end of the first two quarters of this year, while 152 were received by phone.
“We have a team. We talk to people and if they give us their number we will ring them back so that we can fully understand the nature of their concern,” she added.
“If people write to us, we will contact them as well. We will take anonymous feedback because we understand that some people will not want to give their name.
“In those cases, it is unverified information but we will then seek to verify that, either through an assurance report from the provider or through an inspection.
“In some cases, we may find that there is non-compliance in the areas that the person has identified to us. In other areas, it may be something about which we have already been notified.
“We also receive concerns about areas that are not within our remit,” Ms Grogan continued.
“In those cases, we try to signpost the person to the organisation that might be best suited to deal with their issue.
“If not, we can try to do a bit of detective work ourselves and then ring the person back.
“Then, at least they will not be ringing around a number of public services trying to find where to direct their concern.”
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