This is the most the home can charge a week for residents on the Fair Deal scheme. Under Fair Deal you pay up to 80% of your income and 7.5% of the value of your assets a year, and the State pays the rest. Homes may charge extra for things like activities, hairdressing or newspapers, so ask about these when you call.
Read the conditions HIQA attached to this registration
Condition 1: Subject to any prohibitions or restrictions contained in any other condition(s), the designated centre shall be operated at all times in accordance with the Statement of Purpose dated 10 February 2026 and within the footprint of the designated centre on the floor plan received 10 February 2026 excluding 1. any reference to Rooms 16 &17 being used as twin occupancy. For avoidance of any doubt, these rooms are to be used for single occupancy only. 2. Excluding any reference to the centre being registered to accommodate 79 residents as this decision restricts the number of residents who may be accommodated in the designated centre to 77 only. The registered provider shall only provide for the specific care and support needs, and services, within the facilities as set out the Statement of Purpose, as agreed with the Chief Inspector at the time of registration. Any changes to the specific care and support needs and services provided must be agreed in advance with the Chief Inspector.
Condition 2: Only persons aged 18 years or older shall be accommodated at the designated centre at any time.
Condition 3: The maximum number of persons that may be accommodated at the designated centre is: 77
Other homes nearby
Worth phoning too if this home has no bed available.
Ranked 57 of 69 scored homes in Co. Cork · 30 of 33 within 25 km
Leadership and management71
Quality and safety of care80
What went into the score
17 February 2026 · counts 50%2 not compliant · 8 of 16 compliant · 76
6 August 2025 · counts 30%3 not compliant · 11 of 22 compliant · 75
28 August 2024 · counts 20%3 not compliant · 10 of 20 compliant · 74
Fair Deal price is 41% above the Co. Cork median of €1,305 a week.
How we calculate this score
Every regulation HIQA judged on an inspection earns points: Compliant 100, Substantially compliant 65, Not compliant 25.
Where the compliance plan rates the risk of a failing regulation, orange (moderate risk) takes off 15 more points and red (high risk) takes off 40. Yellow (low risk) takes off nothing.
An inspection's score is the average over the regulations it looked at.
A home's score combines its last 3 inspections: the newest counts for 50%, the one before for 30% and the one before that for 20%. With fewer inspections the weights are scaled up to 100%.
The trend compares the newest inspection's score with the average of the earlier ones: 5 points or more higher is improving, 5 or more lower is declining, anything else is stable.
Homes are ranked by score within their county and among scored homes within 25 km. Homes with the same score share a rank.
Method v1. It uses only HIQA's published judgments, not our opinion, and is recalculated whenever a new report is published.
What the latest inspection found
Heather House Community Nursing Unit is a well-managed, purpose-built nursing home in Cork with 59 residents during inspection. Residents receive good quality care from kind and knowledgeable staff, with positive feedback about the care and environment. The home offers single ensuite rooms, communal spaces, and a range of activities. Some improvements are needed in care planning, fire safety, maintenance, and complaint handling.
Long-term care
What inspectors liked
Residents praised the responsive and compassionate staff, saying they are well looked after and wouldn't want to be anywhere else
The centre is clean, bright, well ventilated, and homely with personalised rooms and comfortable communal areas
There is a good range of activities including music, exercise, arts and crafts, and outings, supported by an external company and staff
Residents have timely access to GPs and allied health professionals, with good infection control practices especially during an influenza outbreak
The centre has a stable staff team with appropriate skill mix and 24-hour nursing cover
What needed to improve
Care plans and assessments are not always updated promptly when residents' conditions change
Fire safety needs improvement, including gaps in fire doors, outdated evacuation plans, and overdue staff training
Some maintenance issues such as broken doors and damaged walls were noted and need timely repair
Inspection history
HIQA judges each regulation as Compliant Substantially compliant Not compliantRisk: Low Moderate High
17 February 2026
Unannounced inspection · published Jun 2026
8 compliant6 mostly2 not compliant
ShowHide
Leadership and management
Statement of purposeCompliant
Complaints are not always managed fully according to policy and some incidents were not reported to the Chief Inspector as required
Staff files lacked some required information such as CVs and employment history
What residents said
“we are lucky to have such responsive staff, they are always there to help”
“we are well looked after”
“I wouldn't want to be anywhere else”
Staffing
The centre has sufficient staff with an appropriate skill mix, including registered nurses and clinical nurse managers on duty 24/7, ensuring continuity of care.
Activities
Residents have access to daily activities including music, exercise, arts and crafts, and outings. An external company provides activities Monday to Friday, with staff facilitating weekends. Activities occur in day rooms and include group and one-to-one sessions.
Food
Menus have been improved with more choices and are displayed in dining rooms. Residents reported generous and appetising portions. Some inconsistency in mealtime experience was noted between units, with one unit having a more sociable dining experience than the other.
Dementia
Has a dedicated dementia unit. The Primrose unit is a dementia-specific unit currently being refurbished and planned to reopen soon.
Summarised by AI from the HIQA report of 17 February 2026. Check the report for the full picture.Source report (PDF)
Written policies and proceduresLow risk · fix by 20 February 2026
Mostly
StaffingCompliant
RecordsLow risk · fix by 18 February 2026Mostly
Governance and managementModerate risk · fix by 18 February 2026Not compliant
Notification of incidentsModerate risk · fix by 20 February 2026Not compliant
Complaints procedureLow risk · fix by 20 February 2026Mostly
Applications by registered providers for the variation or removal of conditions of registrationCompliant
Quality and safety of care
Individual assessment and care planLow risk · fix by 2 March 2026Mostly
Health careCompliant
Residents' rightsCompliant
PremisesLow risk · fix by 30 May 2026Mostly
Food and nutritionCompliant
Temporary absence or discharge of residentsCompliant
Infection controlCompliant
Fire precautionsLow risk · fix by 20 April 2026Mostly