A Galway City nursing home was not appropriately managing money owned by residents and “may be using it for purposes other than for the resident it belonged to”.

A damning report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)  into Aperee Living in Ballinfoile on the Headford Road also found the operator had failed to take urgent action to address serious fire safety risks two years after they were identified in Aperee’s own assessment.

It was an identical situation at their facility in Ballinasloe in relation to fire safety.

Following a follow-up inspection eight months after the nursing home’s negative findings, Aperee submitted a plan to address the fire risks, but no work had been carried out and they could show no evidence that it was about to.

Even after the Chief Inspector of the HIQA warned the authority would order a ban on admissions to the home, no fire safety work was undertaken. On the day of the inspection there were 55 residents living in four double bedrooms and 52 single bedrooms.

The November 2021 assessment found the upper floor of the three-floor centre had limited “compartmentation”, which meant that up to 20 residents would have to be evacuated at the same time from the floor.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the October 20 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.