Risks from falling slates restricted garden access for patients at mental health centre

Residents in a Mullingar in-patient mental health facility had restricted access to its garden due to “risks associated with slates falling” from an adjacent HSE building.

During its annual inspection of the Cluain Lir Care Centre which took place last September, the Mental Health Commission identified two “high risk” non-compliances, including the failure to ensure that “hazards were not consistently minimised”.

“The risk associated with slates falling from an adjacent HSE building into the Cluain Lir garden, meant that residents of the approved centre did not have full or free access to the garden at the time of the inspection,” the report stated.

The centre was also found to be non-compliant when it came to the provision of therapeutic services and programmes.

The MHC inspection team judged that therapeutic services and programmes at the centre “were not consistently appropriate to meet the residents’ needs”.

“Individual therapeutic services were delivered to residents following clinical assessments. However, the approved centre’s therapeutic services and programmes were not directed towards restoring and maintaining optimum levels of physical and psychosocial functioning due to the fact that the programme of activities was predominantly recreational and there were insufficient recovery oriented therapeutic programmes provided by appropriately qualified professionals. This programme was led by the nursing staff and was not multi-disciplinary in its delivery.

“Limited access to therapeutic spaces including the occupational therapy kitchen, the snoezelen room and the therapies room also meant that the approved centre therapeutic services and programmes were not directed towards restoring and maintaining optimum levels of physical and psychosocial functioning. While there was a therapies room within Cluain Lir that was available to the residents, it was only accessible two days a week,” the report stated.

Overall, the inspection team found that the Cluain Lir Care Centre was 91 per cent compliant. In 2020, it was found to be 100 per cent compliant. The average compliance for centres is 87 per cent.