Today, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has published 24 inspection reports on infection control in designated 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 services for people with disabilities in Ireland. 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure robust infection control measures beyond COVID-19, the Chief Inspector of Social Services commenced a programme of targeted inspections to assess registered providers’ compliance with Regulation 27: Protection against infection. The inspection programme aims to promote continuous quality improvement in infection prevention and control, in line with the National Standards for infection prevention and control in community services, (2018), as published by HIQA. 

Inspectors found a generally good level of compliance with the regulations and standards across 19 centres inspected with findings of either compliance or substantial compliance with Regulation 27. 

Good practice was observed by inspectors in centres operated by: Avista CLG, Brothers of Charity Services Ireland CLG, Health Service Executive, KARE, Promoting Inclusion for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Praxis Care, St Catherine's Association CLG, St John of God Community Services CLG, St Michael's House, and The Rehab Group.

Examples of good practice included:

• Effective infection prevention and control (IPC) communication between management, staff and residents ensured a consistency of approach
• Completion of post-outbreak reviews to ensure learning was shared and the effectiveness of IPC arrangements
• IPC policies were subject to regular review to ensure they were in line with national public health guidance

Five centres operated by Brothers of Charity Services Ireland CLG, MMC Children's Services Limited and Saint Patrick's Centre (Kilkenny) were found to be non-compliant, which meant that residents were not being adequately protected from the risk of infection. These providers were required to take actions to improve their infection prevention and control arrangements. 

Examples of areas requiring improvement observed by inspectors included:

• Cleaning arrangements were not comprehensive, did not reflect the needs of the individual designated centre and were not consistently completed 
• Appropriate personal protective equipment was not available at all times
• Premises were not maintained to a good standard to prevent the spread of infection.

Read all reports at the link below.