Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 May 2013
677. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Health if he will introduce an independent appeals process to afford nursing homes the opportunity to address the Health Information and Quality Authority's judgments and conditions. [25695/13]
View answerThe Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is the independent Authority established to drive continuous improvement in Ireland’s health and social care services. The Authority’s mandate extends across the quality and safety of the public, private (within its social care function) and voluntary sectors. HIQA has statutory responsibility for
- Setting Standards for Health and Social Services,
- Social Services Inspectorate,
- Monitoring Healthcare Quality,
- Health Technology Assessment,
- Health Information.
The functions of HIQA are defined in the Act and the Authority operates within a set of values and Codes of Conduct. In this regard the Authority has a complaints procedure for persons or organisations who may have complaints about employees or practices of the Authority. Information regarding the complaints procedure may be found at www.hiqa.ie.
Since the introduction of the registration and inspection regime for the nursing home sector in 2009 there have been relatively few appeals, formal or informal, in respect of the Authority’s inspection or enforcement activity. This is set in the context of the registration of over 570 designated centres and in excess of 2,500 inspection reports. In addition the Ombudsman (Amendment) 2012 extended the remit of the Office of the Ombudsman to over 180 additional public bodies, including HIQA. From 1 May 2013 the Ombudsman can examine complaints from members of the public about the administrative actions of these bodies. In this context the establishment of an additional formal independent appeals process for the nursing home sector is not considered necessary.
