HIQA finds governance and medication failings at Louth nursing home
HIQA inspection of St Peter's Nursing Home in Castlebellingham has found shortcomings
A HIQA inspection of St Peter's Nursing Home in Castlebellingham has found shortcomings in governance, medication management, staff training and residents’ rights despite inspectors noting that residents were generally happy with the care they received.
The unannounced inspection, carried out on 14 May, 2026, found that while residents praised staff for being "kind" and welcomed recent investment in facilities, "the level of compliance in this centre had deteriorated since the last inspection in June 2025."
Inspectors acknowledged improvements under a new person in charge appointed in August 2025, but concluded that "management oversight of service and staff practices was inadequate, which had the potential to adversely impact the quality and safety of the residents." The report also stated that "significant risks associated with medication management practices had not been identified by providers' own auditing systems."
Overall, inspectors reported that residents "appeared happy while living in the centre" and "spoke positively about the staff and how 'kind' they were." Visitors also told inspectors that visiting arrangements were unrestricted, while residents praised improvements to communal areas and activity facilities, including a refurbished activities room they now refer to as the "cinema room."
However, inspectors found that two residents reported waiting between 10 and 15 minutes for call bells to be answered at times. Inspectors also observed that "some residents did not have their call bell within reach when they were asleep in bed," meaning they "would not be able to call for assistance should they required [sic] it, upon waking up."
HIQA found that mandatory training requirements had not been met for a significant number of staff.
Among the findings were:
- Nineteen staff members were overdue refresher fire safety training.
- Seven staff had not completed any fire training.
- Seven per cent of staff had not completed safeguarding training.
- Only 60 per cent of staff had completed training in managing responsive behaviours for residents living with dementia or similar conditions.
The inspection identified a series of governance failings.
Inspectors found there was "a lack of assurance that staff in key roles understood their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding the residents living in the centre." One example cited was that a night nurse "was unable to inform the inspector of the correct number of residents in the centre on the morning of inspection," which inspectors said "posed a significant risk to the care and welfare of residents in the event of critical incidents such as fire or missing persons."
The report also criticised management oversight of residents' rights, stating that "a number of residents did not have call-bell access on the morning of the inspection."
HIQA further found that the provider had failed to ensure staff received mandatory training, failed to meet commitments made after the previous inspection regarding responsive behaviour training, and that some audits failed to identify problems found during the inspection, including medication management issues.
Inspectors identified several serious concerns regarding medication practices.
These included an unlocked medication trolley being left unattended in a corridor, medications belonging to deceased residents remaining in storage months after their deaths, and failures in the recording and return of medicines to pharmacies.
Inspectors also found that controlled medications were not always being administered safely.
According to the report, "one nurse had removed, administered and signed for the administration of at least two controlled drugs to residents without checking with a second nurse at any stage."
HIQA found that a rights-based approach to care was not consistently evident.
The report stated that "multiple residents had no access to their call-bell at 7am, which meant that they would not be able to call for assistance should they require."
While recent refurbishment work was welcomed, inspectors found deficiencies in the medication room, including poor cleanliness, unsecured oxygen cylinders, cluttered preparation surfaces and difficulties maintaining infection prevention standards around the sink area.
In its compliance plan, the provider said it had completed overdue training, strengthened medication procedures, improved call-bell monitoring, deep-cleaned the medication room and introduced additional management oversight to address the findings.