A DONEGAL nursing home where seven elderly residents died due to a flu outbreak in March and April appeared to have “no established procedure” to enable early detection of flu, a report has found.
A report of inspections conducted by the Health Information and Quality Authority published yesterday finds that, while the residents of Nazareth House home in Buncrana were well cared for, there were a number of deficiencies in areas such as staffing arrangements, reporting procedures and cleanliness.
Two inspections at the home on April 2nd, 3rd and 4th were triggered by a report of a significant number of resident deaths in March and April, the report said.
Nine residents died between March 22nd and April 8th. Seven were classified as possibly consequent to an A (H3N2) influenza-related illness. The other two died of unrelated causes.
Nazareth House responded to all the issues raised by the authority’s inspectors and has indicated that, in many cases, the problems identified have already been addressed or procedures tightened.
Inspectors found the home had failed to comply with regulations in a number of respects, including in its arrangements for cover in the absence of the person in charge, in relation to the staffing mix to meet the needs of residents, and in some aspects of infection prevention and control.
“Robust communication procedures were not in place. Senior management was not communicated with in a timely manner and there was a lack of clarity and accountability about how the information on the outbreak had been reported,” the report said.
However, the inspectors found that “in general the healthcare arrangements for residents was satisfactory”, with significant interventions and specialist advice from local doctors and other professionals.