An inspection into an Ennis mental health centre found what was described as a “plume of smoke” in the main corridor of the building on the day of inspection.
Cappahard Lodge, in Knockanoura, was visited by inspectors from the Mental Health Commission in November of 2022.
The mental health centre on the outskirts of Ennis was found to be compliant in 26 of the 30 areas assessed, following an announced annual inspection by the Mental Health Commission.
Cappahard Lodge took appropriate care and treatment of residents with staff providing “therapeutic activities and physical health monitoring appropriate to the needs of residents”.
The centre was praised for its responsiveness to residents’ needs and it was noted that the centre employs a designated activities coordinator, offers its residents a choice of food at mealtimes and has a comprehensive complaints process in place.
However, the centre was found to be non-compliant in four areas with three labelled “high risk”.
Chief among these was the risk of second-hand smoke to both staff and residents owing to the close proximity of an internal smoking area to bedrooms.
On the day of inspection, a “plume of smoke” was observed in the main corridor of the building as the door to the internal smoking area was left open.
It was noted that this issue had been noted in the previous inspection but no steps had been taken to remedy it.
It was also pointed out that the centre was “not kept in a good state of repair internally”, that a number of staff had not received the required training and that a call bell system for residents had not been installed.
In addition, the frequency of medication being administered to patients was not recorded in four of five cases assessed – this was marked as a “moderate” risk.
Overall, Cappahard Lodge was rated 87% compliant by the Mental Health Commission; the centre’s highest result since 2019 and up 25 per cent from its 2021 result of just 63%.
