Longford nursing home makes "significant progress across multiple areas", Hiqa finds

Laurel Lodge Nursing Home came in for scrutiny by Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) back in February after it was revealed how a a Covid-19 outbreak was not “being effectively managed” days after it was forced to go into full lockdown.

It uncovered shortcomings in seven of the 12 regulations which were evaluated by Hiqa officials on the day of the inspection.

They included non compliance in staffing, fire precautions, governance and management and most notably infection control.

However, in a newly released report published today, staff and management at the Longford based were lauded for the improvements which had been made to the centre since the date of its last inspection in September 2021.

While non-compliance had been identified regarding a number of regulations during that inspection, inspectors found that significant progress had been made in terms of increasing compliance across multiple areas," read the report.

"For example, compliance with regulatory requirements had increased in relation to governance and management, staffing, training and development, infection control and fire safety."

Hiqa officials also highlighted the positive changes which had been made to the nursing home's governance and management structure, citing how a new director of nursing and assistant director of nursing had commenced employment last December.

It found that management had implemented a suite of policies and procedures, in line with regulations and despite "some turnover in staffing", there were ongoing recruitment efforts in place to maintain safe and consistent staffing levels.

Inspectors noted enhancements to fire precautions and infection prevention had likewise been made but stressed "further efforts" were required to bring the centre into full compliance with these regulations.