Vol. 506 No. 1
60 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Health and Children if he is familiar with the standards of care and guidelines published by the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14777/99]
On 26 May 1999, I formally launched the "Directory of Services" and a pamphlet entitled "Standards of Care", both of which have been produced by the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland – NAMHI. The "Standards of Care" pamphlet acts as a guide to assist families and service providers to develop the standards of care necessary to enable people with a mental handicap/intellectual disability to participate, to the greatest possible extent, in the social, cultural, economic, and political life of their community.
While there has quite rightly been a particular emphasis on the development of services to meet the needs of those awaiting placement in residential and day services, there is also a need to ensure that clients already in services receive an appropriate standard of care. It is also important that standards are monitored and reviewed, to ensure that they are maintained.
My Department, the health boards and voluntary service providers are committed to the development of services in accordance with the principles underpinning the United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with a Disability. In addition there is a commitment to the principles of equity, quality of services and accountability, and the concept of health and social gain which underpin the health strategy as a whole.
Service agreements, which are currently being developed between voluntary agencies providing services to persons with a mental handicap/ intellectual disability and the health boards, will set out clearly the responsibilities of both parties in the provision of services and the principles which underpin those agreements.
The Federation of Voluntary Bodies Providing Services to People with Mental Handicap recently undertook an initiative which examined processes and mechanisms used to assess and document quality measures. This process, which involved both my Department and NAMHI, resulted in the identification of a number of mechanisms which would assist service providers to measure quality standards within their services.
My Department is also working to develop evaluation tools and mechanisms which will enable us to evaluate and monitor various aspects of the services, and in particular the outcome for clients availing of the services. This has already commenced in the area of residential care, through the research study which is currently being undertaken on behalf of my Department, by the Centre for Study of Developmental Disabilities. During the course of this year, we will be undertaking preparatory work with a view to commissioning research into the outcomes in day services.
