An unannounced HIQA inspection of a Roscommon care home conducted last October has identified areas of concern that are in need of improvement according to a newly released report.
Sonas Nursing Home Cloverhill near Roscommon Town is a 53-bed facility designed to provide care in a home environment setting.
On attending the centre last year, inspectors noted that the facility had good space to allow social distancing and maintained a relaxed communal atmosphere.
Residents spoke of enjoying life at the centre and praised the staff for their kind and respectful manner, with some service users registering concerns over boredom day today.
In the area of staffing, the centre was found to have good levels of nursing and health care staff but was found lacking in the area of cleaners.
The Roscommon Nursing Home confirmed to inspectors at the time that a recruitment drive was underway to rectify the issue.
Staying with staffing issues, it was found during a review of staff records that improvement was needed in the documentation of training and some new staff were found to have not completed the required infection control training.
The overall provider of the service was found to extend good support and oversight to the Roscommon centre, with a regional manager appointed since the last inspection.
Inspectors found the storage of PPE effective and all storerooms well organised and clear of clutter.
On the subject of Governance, concerns were highlighted over the failure to identify issues in an environmental report that were subsequently noticed by inspectors.
In the area of infection control, staff practises of sharing roles in certain situations were found not to be best practises when facing pandemic risks and the centre's covid contingency plan was found to need improvement.
The report's findings highlighted the full compliance of the Cloverhill facility in the areas of Visits for family and friends, communication to residents and personal care plans.
The centre has confirmed a plan of action to address the concerns raised by the HIQA report.
In a statement to Shannonside FM, management at the centre said the following:
“We note that many residents said they enjoyed life in the centre and that they were well looked after in what was described as a relaxing and communal atmosphere. Also that staff interaction with residents was observed to be respectful and kind. We acknowledge the positive feedback from HIQA and have addressed the findings in the report to their satisfaction.”
