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23 April 2025
Located in Ballinasloe, Galway, The Creagh Suite in St. Brigid’s Hospital offers long-stay, continuing care for residents living with dementia and experiencing the psychological and behavioural symptoms of this illness.
The facility holds 14-beds for individuals who require ongoing care for severe mental health conditions and dementia. Staff at the hospital provide therapeutic activities, physical health monitoring and continuous support to allow residents to carry out their daily lives.
The challenge
St. Brigid’s Hospital required a reliable, effective staff safety system to comply with Ireland’s health and safety legislation and protect the nursing staff on site. Pinpoint’s easy-to-use programme was chosen to meet the complex safety needs of the residents in Creagh Suite.
Aggressive behaviour can occur in people experiencing the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. The confusion, hallucinations, memory loss and physical pain associated with the illness can cause a person to behave violently, often unintentionally.
To protect against this, Pinpoint’s staff safety systems were installed prior to the residents moving into the Creagh Suite.
The solution
Cove Healthcare identified the Pinpoint System as meeting the highest level of specification.
Personal Infrared Transmitters (PITs), which act as personal safety alarms, were given to all staff members to sound in case of an incident. Pinpoint’s PITs have two call levels, Assistance and Emergency, which correlate to the severity of the situation in question. By activating the alarm, infrared signals are transmitted to the Advanced Receiver Units installed within the hospital, triggering the system and alerting a response team to the exact location and type of the call. Doing so allows staff to intervene and de-escalate potentially dangerous situations, thereby reducing the risk of harm to workers and other residents.
Every member of the team was given comprehensive training on how to use the system and the protocol in place for responding to incidents. This was all carried out before the hospital opened to ensure staff were confident and competent in using the systems in case an incident were to occur.
Pinpoint’s Nurse Call Buttons were also built into the walls throughout the building for patients to use should they need assistance. Placing these at regular, accessible intervals in Smallwood Manor meant that residents could easily call for help in any situation or emergency.
The Pinpoint system in action
Installing Pinpoint’s staff safety system gave staff confidence in their safety on the ward. With the approval of the HSE, the advanced security system superseded the legal safety requirements for St. Brigid’s Hospital, providing reliable, full-proof coverage of the Creagh Suite and garden area.
Maria Donnellan, Clinical Nurse Manager 3 at St. Brigid’s Hospital, said
“With Pinpoint’s staff safety systems installed, staff are reassured of their safety at work and know they can call for help in the event of any emergency. If a resident becomes abusive toward a member of the team, or if a patient is choking, staff can quickly call for support and know it will soon be on its way”
“The systems help us all stay safe, and crucially, meet the high requirements of health and safety legislation in Ireland. The Health and Safety Authority were impressed during a recent visit to the facility”
To find out more about staff security systems used in hospitals across Ireland, please contact us here.
