The Mental Health Commission has found the physical structure of the Acute Psychiatric Unit of Ennis General Hospital posed a ‘high risk’ to the safety of patients, visitors, and staff.
However, the findings documented in a report which has just been published, showed that the county town facility recorded its highest compliance rating in the previous five years.
The announced annual inspection took place between the 9th & 12th of August 2022, when 37 residents were in attendance at the facility.
In the findings of the report, the inspection team deemed the acute psychiatry unit to be non-compliant in five areas out of the 34 it was assessed in.
Four of those regulations, namely, Food & Nutrition, the Ordering & Prescribing & Administration of Medicines, Staffing & Risk Management Procedures, all registered a moderate risk rating.
The Acute Psychiatric unit recorded a high-risk rating in terms of its premises with inspectors citing that trip hazards had not been minimised, and therefore the condition of the physical structure hadn’t been maintained with due regard to the safety and well-being of residents, staff, and visitors.
Inspectors also stated that the registered proprietor did not enable all staff sufficient access to mandatory training modules such as Fire Safety, Basic Life Support, the Management of Violence & Aggression, and the Mental Health Act.
However, the report noted that Ennis General Hospital had committed to providing a range of corrective and preventative measures to address the issues raised in the report.
This included correcting all trip hazards and circulating a schedule of dates for mandatory training to all relevant heads of discipline.
The inspection team also engaged the residents in service user feedback where the average score of patients for overall treatment and care at the facility came back as 9 out of 10.
In total, the Acute Psychiatric Care Unit at Ennis General Hospital was found to be compliant in 86% of all areas of assessment, the highest compliance rate recorded there since 2018.
You can read the full report here
