A Mallow nursing home has received international recognition by being awarded the prestigious Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation, the first nursing home outside the USA to meet the JCI’s exacting quality of care standard. 

Brídhaven Nursing Home satisfied the criteria set out by a team of international experts in a whole range of areas, including infection control and medication management. The accred-itation is a strong validation that Brídhaven has gone the extra mile to ensure the highest level of safety and quality clinical care for its residents.

Brídhaven, a purpose-built facility with 139 beds in mainly private rooms, was purchased in 2004 by Paul and Mary Clare Rochford and offers short-term, convalescent and long-term care. It also offers a comprehensive and approved service to people suffering from dementia and those who have an acquired brain injury.

“We had completed stand-ards in the past, such as the ISO 9000, that had little to do with improving the actual standard of care being provided in the home,” says Paul Rochford. “We wanted to work to a standard that was recognised internat-ionally as being the leader in our industry and, in turn, we wanted that to become the way we worked in Brídhaven.”

JCI is a non-mandatory accreditation that is sought only by institutions looking to provide the highest quality of care.

The accreditation represents a first for Ireland; the JCI Long Term Care Standard has never before been awarded to a nursing home outside the United States. To put the standard into perspective, other Irish healthcare organisations that have been approved by the JCI include the Blackrock Clinic, the Mater Private, the Galway Clinic, the Bon Secours Hospitals and the Beacon Hospital.

Kathleen Lynch TD, Minister of State at the Department of Health and Department of Justice, Equality and Defence with responsibility for Disability, Older People, Equality and Mental Health, commenting on Brídhaven’s achieve-ments, said:   “The concerted effort and hard work undertaken by those in Brídhaven Nursing Home to fulfil this international accreditation standard is to be commended. The JCI evaluation process is intense, to say the least, and it is gratifying to see a care facility such as this go to all that trouble in order to go above and beyond normal standards of care and foster best practice in a culture of openness and efficiency.”