An Ennis designated centre for older persons has been commended in a HIQA report for the quality of care received by patients at the facility.
It follows a previous inspection in May which found that residents hesitated in ringing call bells due to concerns over staff shortages.
The Health Information and Quality Authority carried out an inspection at Ennis Nursing Home, Showgrounds Road, Drumbiggle on September 14th.
This was a follow-up to an inspection which took place on May 3rd and found that staff answered call bells “not too quickly” while wardrobes, lockers and doors in bedrooms were noted as being in a poor state of repair.
On the day of the most recent inspection, 55 residents were present, with some among them telling inspectors that “the care is excellent”, “the staff are on top of things” and “I’m very well looked after”.
The report noted that following previous concerns raised, each resident had access to a call bell and it was generally reported that the call bell response times were satisfactory.
In addition, it was noted that upgrade works had been carried out on ten bedrooms and that the works were “of a high standard”.
However, some flaws were observed in the area of ‘governance and management’, with the minutes of meetings between staff and senior management found to be unavailable.
The condition of the premises was also found to be an issue due to “unsightly” walls in need of painting, while patients’ individual assessment and care planS were found to be lacking, with one resident not having been assessed for pain.
Overall, the facility was compliant in all but three areas, with these areas marked as “substantially compliant”.
