Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 November 2020
269. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if a HIQA inspector informed a nursing home (details supplied) on 8 May 2020 that an independent inquiry was not appropriate, as it would be inspected as normal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39249/20]
View answerThe Chief Inspector of Social Services within the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is the statutory independent regulator for the nursing home sector. The regulatory regime of registration and inspection holds the registered provider to account for the service they provide.
The Health Act 2007 as amended gives the Chief Inspector statutory powers to take action where a registered provider fails to comply with their statutory obligations under the Act and regulations. These powers include:
- refuse to register or renew the registration of a designated centre
- vary or remove a centre’s condition of registration
- attach an additional condition of registration
- cancel a centre’s registration
- urgent application to the district court (with or without notice to the provider) to cancel registration or vary, remove or attach additional conditions of registration.
- The Chief Inspector carries out a number of regulatory activities to assess a provider’s compliance, which include:
-desktop inspection of information received
- on-site inspection in designated centres
- ongoing assessment of compliance by centres with the regulations and national standards.
Inspection reports are published on HIQA’s website, including the most recent undertaken in relation to the nursing home referred to by the Deputy. The Minister would not have information on discussions that may have taken place within this context.
