I don’t read the bible that often. However, I’m sure there are lots of references about shining light, overcoming darkness and all types of associated sunny imagery. Light is good. Dark is bad. All sorts of dangerous and nasty things happen in the dark. If you see a character in dark clothing, you know trouble is a comin'...
As journalists we love hopping on this bandwagon and when we find a new, darkly lit area of society we immediately get excited with the chance to shine a searchlight over it. This is often the result of long drawn out investigation work as we battle ‘dark’ forces to find out what is really going on. That, or we get lucky and an inspection report lands on our table.
Yesterday was such a day. HIQA published its first set of reports into residential care facilities for disabled people. You can read them all here.
When you do read them – they are all very short and non-technical – the important thing to understand is that the phrase ‘residential care centre’ is a misnomer. It is HOME to people who live there. It’s where they should feel happy. It should be a place to kick back and relax. It is not a hospital ward. It is not a faceless institution behind a big wall. It is home and that home is part of a wider, loving community.
However, we can’t be complacent. We saw incidents of residents not having a full say on when and what they eat. One report mentioned locked doors. Another raised questions on fire safety. These are problems associated with faceless institutions where ‘clients’ are just that: service users in a place of care. They are not homes we love going back to at the end of the day.
The good news is all the problems were spotted and dealt with. We know the HIQA is doing its job. Inspection and follow ups happened within a short space of time. There was no delay.
The even better news is HIQA is calling unannounced. This is as it should be. What is the point in having an inspection regime if those being inspected know exactly when the knock on the door will come? Long may it continue. Yesterday was a good day. Long may it continue.
