The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published an inspection report on a children’s residential centre.

HIQA is authorised by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth under Section 69 of the Child Care Act, 1991, as amended by Section 26 of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011, to inspect children’s residential care services provided by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla). HIQA monitors Tusla’s performance against the National Standards for Children’s Residential Centres and reports on its findings to the Minister.

An announced inspection of a statutory children’s residential centre in the Dublin Mid-Leinster region was carried out between 20 and 21 April 2021. This inspection found that young people received good quality, child-centred care where their needs were prioritised and their rights were promoted. The staff team worked to develop positive relationships with young people, and care was provided in partnership with family and professionals involved with the young people. 

There were effective governance and management systems in place to ensure that the centre provided the services outlined in the statement of purpose. These systems allowed for oversight and monitoring of the service and ensured that a safe, good quality service was provided to the young people in the centre. The operation of the service was subject to regular review. Measures were in place to assess the service and to promote continuous improvements in service delivery. The centre had a system in place for identifying and managing risk, and complaints about the service were well managed.

Although there was a small number of vacancies in the centre, this did not significantly impact the staffing complement on a day-to-day basis. The staff team were well established, qualified and were knowledgeable of the needs of the young people they cared for. They were aware of relevant legislation, regulations, national policies and standards to protect and promote young people’s welfare. Staff records were held centrally and improvements were required in the maintenance of these records to ensure the required documentation was available on each staff member’s file.