Tramore IPAS centre falls below standards
Atlantic House, Tramore, falls below national standards according to the latest HIQA report.
A report has revealed middling standards at a Waterford-based International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centre.
HIQA (Health Information and Quality Authority) carried out their report in relation to the Atlantic House in Tramore on two dates in February 2024.
The centre was found to be non-compliant in nine out of 20 areas of assessment. 11 areas were deemed to be partially compliant.
While the report recognised a mostly amicable environment between staff and residents, there were issues regarding record maintenance and regulatory process.
According to the report, there were no formalised monitoring or review arrangements in place in the centre.
It stated: "Deficits in record keeping limited the potential for the provider to review service provision, or to evidence any previous improvement initiatives they may have implemented.
"The findings of this inspection indicated that the provider did not have a clear understanding of the experience of all adults living in the centre."
"Inspectors were not satisfied that the centre maintained sound recruitment practices.
"While the provider gave verbal assurances that all staff had been subject to Garda vetting prior to commencing their role, there were no records available to confirm this at the time of inspection.
"Prior to the inspection the provider had applied for a Garda vetting disclosure for all 10 staff members, and had received four disclosures."
Following the inspection, an urgent compliance plan was issued, which was adhered to by the provider.
The centre was also declared to have inadequate supervision for children and adults and risk analysis practices.
"There were no clear reporting mechanisms for staff, who communicated information on an informal basis.
"While it was observed that staff were endeavouring to operate the centre as effectively as possible, deficits in staff support and supervision contributed to a lack of clarity regarding roles and responsibilities."
The centre was deemed "partially compliant" in relation to safeguarding children.
"Although some staff had received training in additional areas, such as sexual and gender-based violence, it was found that staff did not have training in some fundamental areas, such as adult safeguarding."
The report later stated: "While there was a register of some potential risks in the centre (such as compliance risks and fire safety risks), these had not been evaluated in any depth and consequently records of control measures contained limited information and were poorly defined."
The price of items from the shop were marked up too high, making them out of range for residents. According to the report: "Inspectors found that some of the products in the shop were quite expensive, given the amount of points residents received. A review of products found, for example, that four rolls of toilet paper cost €3.90 (with one point equivalent to €1), marmalade cost €4 and a can of tomatoes cost €1.50. This was in part due to the brands of items stocked, but was also a consequence of a financial mark-up on products."
The high pricing meant that residents were unable to buy food as part of a healthy diet.
