{"id":242858,"date":"2026-01-13T20:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/242858\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T20:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:16:08","slug":"scabies-outbreak-and-smell-of-urine-discovered-by-hiqa-at-kilkenny-care-home-page-1-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/242858\/","title":{"rendered":"Scabies outbreak and ‘smell of urine’ discovered by HIQA at Kilkenny care home – Page 1 of 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0A Kilkenny<\/a> nursing home had a scabies outbreak and a \u201cstrong smell of urine\u201d on both days of a two-day \u00a0HIQA<\/a> inspection, it has been revealed.<\/p>\n

The HIQA inspectors concluded that residents at the home \u201cdid not receive a good standard of care\u201d having discovered that the home was \u2018non compliant\u2019 in 12 of the 13 inspection categories, including infection control, pharmaceutical services and staffing,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Management at the home were issued with an urgent compliance plan, followed by a second a number of days later when this was not adequately addressed, and a \u2018warning meeting\u2019 was held with the care provider.<\/p>\n

Steps have been taken to address the issues raised.<\/p>\n

The unannounced inspection took place at Brookhaven Nursing Home, in Ballyragget,\u00a0 last September. The HIQA report was released today, January 13, 2026.<\/p>\n

TAP HERE FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

Brookhaven provides full-time nursing care for people with low to maximum dependency assessed needs requiring long-term residential, palliative, convalescence and respite care and on the day of the first inspection there were 67 residents.<\/p>\n

The HIQA report makes stark reading and lists many issues discovered in the inspection, held \u201cto follow up unsolicited and solicited information received by the Chief Inspector, pertaining to serious incidents notified, safeguarding, residents’ rights, the quality of care, including health care provided to residents living in the centre.\u201d<\/p>\n

HIQA said the information \u201cwas substantiated on this inspection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to the inspectors, \u201cresidents and visitors expressed concerns relating to the centre being short-staffed.\u201d They said \u201cthe centre was cold, in particular some bedrooms and communal areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA number of residents told the inspectors that there was a shortage of bed sheets and that sometimes blankets or duvet covers were used to cover the mattress as a substitute for sheets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concerns detailed in the comprehensive HIQA report include:<\/p>\n

\u201cA strong smell of urine was detected in parts of the centre on both days of inspection.
\n \u00a0\u201cThere were three sluice rooms for the reprocessing of bedpans, urinals and commodes. On the morning of the second day of inspection there were no bedpan washers working in the centre. By the end of the second day there was one bedpan washer working in the centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shortage of staff was observed to adversely impact residents in the centre leading to delays in care and residents’ not being provided with care in line with their preferences and assessed needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cInspectors observed a resident who had to wait over 15 minutes to be assisted to the bathroom, despite the call-bell being activated by staff to gain support.\u00a0\u00a0
\n \u201cOne resident told the inspectors that the staff informed her they were short staffed on the morning of the second inspection and would not have time to give her a shower that morning but would return later at 3pm. The resident confirmed with the inspectors that the staff never returned to give them a shower at 3pm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspectors said audit systems at the home were ineffective at identifying risks and driving quality improvements. For example:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA medication management audit carried out in June 2025 evidenced 42% compliance. An action plan had been developed on paper, however, three months later, the findings of this inspection showed no improvement in any of the identified areas.”<\/p>\n

The report goes on to say that \u201can ongoing scabies outbreak in the centre was likely exacerbated by several infection prevention and control failures, including the lack of resident isolation when symptomatic, unclear guidance for staff, improper management of laundry and non-washable items as well as potential errors in the application and administration of treatments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese gaps contributed to continued transmission and highlight the need for enhanced staff training, standardised procedures and improved oversight of infection prevention and control procedures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all staff had access to appropriate training to support them to perform their respective roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe management systems in the centre were inadequate and not effective at ensuring the service provided was safe, appropriate, consistent, and effectively monitored.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe registered provider did not ensure the premises of the designated centre were appropriate to the needs of the residents and in line with the statement of purpose. For example:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStaff were observed to utilise resident communal spaces for meal breaks, despite a staff break facility being available.\u201d<\/p>\n

TAP HERE FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

Other concerns highlighted by HIQA included:<\/p>\n

\u201cParts of the centre required repair to ensure they could be effectively cleaned. For example: floors in the staff room, smoking room and bedroom areas were damaged.\u00a0\u00a0
\n \u201cThere was no system for adjusting or recording the temperature in the centre. Areas of the centre were cold, and the residents and visitors told inspectors that this was a long standing issue and was reported by residents and visitors.
\n \u201cResidents were observed to be smoking in non-designated smoking areas, such as doorways and as a result there was a strong smell of cigarette smoke in a number of corridors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inspectors noted that \u201cthe provider did not meet the regulatory requirements and the National Standards for infection prevention and control in community services (2018). For example:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the absence of a hand wash basin in the housekeeping room, there was a lack of assurance that housekeeping staff performed hand hygiene at the point of use.\u00a0\u00a0
\n \u201cClinical waste bins in the centre were not enclosed and pedal operated for the the safe disposal of potentially contaminated items, such as used PPE and wound dressings
\n \u201cInspectors observed poor hand hygiene practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Practices observed in relation to the storage and use of some medications were not in line with best-practice medicines guidance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMedications were stored inappropriately in an unsafe manner. For example, prescribed topical medication was found in residents bathroom with the lid open and food supplements were found in unlocked press in communal area. Medication for use in the treatment of scabies was not always administered in line with prescriber’s directions\u00a0 There were inaccurate records for the administration of prescribed medication i.e. eye drops and the medication used for the treatment of scabies.\u00a0 Nurses were not adhering to best practice procedures when counting control drug medications. Click the NEXT arrows to continue reading from the HIQA report and the response from the care provider…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0A Kilkenny nursing home had a scabies outbreak and a \u201cstrong smell of urine\u201d on both days of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[122754,103,397,396,23813,61,60,12969],"class_list":{"0":"post-242858","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ballyragget","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-care","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-hiqa","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-kilkenny"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}