Today, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has published 11 reports on centres for people with disabilities. HIQA inspects against the Health Act 2007 (Care and Support of Residents in Designated Centres for Persons (Children and Adults) with Disabilities) Regulations 2013 and the National Standards for Residential Services for Children and Adults with Disabilities which apply to residential and respite services in Ireland.

Of the 11 reports published today, inspectors found that the provider was generally ensuring a good level of compliance with the requirements of the regulations in four centres provided by St Michael's House, and two centres provided by Ability West.

Five reports refer to centres operated by St John of God Community Services Limited. A good level of compliance was found in two of the centres, and inspectors recognised that both centres had made significant improvements since the previous inspections.

However, inspectors found that the provider had not ensured an adequate level of compliance with requirements in three of the centres. While improvements had been made to the overall governance and management systems in one of these centres, the management of medicines was not appropriate and did not adequately protect the residents from risk. An inspection in another centre found that the provider had not responded adequately to the failings identified on the previous inspection and the needs of residents were not being met. In another centre, inspectors found that residents were not receiving a safe service which upheld their rights. The inspection identified seven major non-compliances with the standards and regulations, including a failure to adequately protect residents from risk of financial abuse.