Kilkenny nursing home scores significant improvement in new report

Tinnypark nursing home recorded a promising turnaround in a new Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report released on Thursday.

After a previous report with multiple serious issues was released last month regarding inspections which took place in January, the new review was a follow up to ensure compliance plans were progressing a few weeks later at the beginning of March.

The January inspection found a concerning ten areas of non-compliance with just one rating of compliant prompting comments from Senator Patricia Stephenson, however, in March this had improved to four scores of compliance with just one non-compliance along with nine instances of substantial compliance.

Residents interviewed by the inspection team were complimentary of the centre and staff saying they “love it here” and “they give me everything I want” while non-verbal residents were observed to be content and comfortable.

Some areas in which Tinnypark scored particularly highly were staffing, where vacancies in nursing management had been addressed and there were sufficient housekeeping and laundry staff on duty, though there were still some staff shortages in the overall employee numbers.

The January inspection had observed repeated instances of residents’ private information being unsecure like sensitive records being visible on the computer in the entrance area and files kept in an unlocked meeting room, all problems which had been resolved, resulting in a compliant rating.

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Other aspects in which the centre was rated highly on were residents’ access to personal possessions and resident protection.

The only area where serious issues persisted was in relation to individual care and assessment plans. 

Examples of non-compliance included a resident consistently assessed to be at a high risk of developing a pressure ulcer for 10 months before the inspection not having a pressure ulcer prevention care plan, a resident assessed to be at a medium risk of malnutrition not having a nutrition care plan while there were noted gaps in the frequency of malnutrition risk assessments, repeat issues from the previous inspection.

Both planned and completed action for all problems in the report were outlined in the centre’s ongoing compliance plan to continue the improvement of care.

With one rating of significant non-compliance and a further nine areas with less serious issues, there are a lot of problems still to be addressed, but such a stark reversal from the January inspection is certainly commendable in a six week period.

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