A Health Service Executive report on a private nursing home in Co Sligo has revealed that four patients were physically restrained in their chairs during an unannounced inspection.
The Sancta Maria Nursing Home in Enniscrone has 35 beds and is run as a family business.
On 4 October last, an inspection team from the HSE visited the home, and found what it says were several breaches of regulations.
Of the four patients restrained in their chairs, one had a cloth restraint around the abdomen and chest, which was tied behind a chair.
Another patient in an upstairs bedroom was restrained in her chair and did not have access to a call bell.
The inspectors say that restraint should only be used as a last resort.
While the inspection report says that consent for restraint was signed by a nurse and a relative, there was no restraint protocol to refer to before signing and it was not apparent that any medical assessment had been made before starting the restraint.
In multiple bed wards, beds were up against the wall making care of bedridden patients difficult.
Many patients were still dressed in their night attire at 11.30am.
Clinical waste was being disposed of as domestic waste, which was likely to lead to the spread of infection, it says.
Prescriptions were being taken over the phone instead of having a GP sign all drug charts.
Terry Cawley, the proprietor of the home, told RTÉ News that he believed the report was unfair and unbalanced and said that the restraints involved light bandages.
After 17 years in the family business, he said, just one complaint had been made and was found to have no substance.
Mr Cawley said the nursing home was an old building and that aspects of it needed to be updated.
