Patricia Ryan
Ceist:441. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health if he will establish a nursing home regulator to ensure there is proper oversight of the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7396/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 10 February 2022
Ceisteanna (441)
Freagraí scríofa
The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, was established under the Health Act 2007. HIQA is the independent Authority established to drive continuous improvement in Ireland’s health and social care services. The Authority comes under the aegis of the Minister for Health.
The Health Act 2007 also established the office of the Chief Inspector of Social Services in HIQA. The functions of the Chief Inspector are to:
1. establish and maintain registers of designated centres (including nursing homes);
2. register and inspect designated centres to assess whether the provider is in compliance with the regulations and standards.
Under the Act any person carrying on the business of a residential service within a designated centre (i.e. a nursing home) can only do so if the centre is registered under the Act and the person is its registered provider. As part of the registration and onward process of regulation, the provider must satisfy the Chief Inspector that she or he is fit to provide the service and that the service is in compliance with the Act, the regulations and specified standards.
The purpose of regulation in relation to designated centres is to safeguard people who are receiving residential services. Regulation provides assurance to the public that people living in designated centres are receiving services and supports that meet the requirements of National Standards, which are underpinned by regulations.
The Chief Inspector has significant and wide-ranging powers up to and including withdrawing the registration of a nursing home facility, which means that it can no longer operate as a service provider. This responsibility is underpinned by a comprehensive quality framework comprising of Registration Regulations, Care and Welfare Regulations and National Quality Standards.
The Chief Inspector, in discharging their duties, determines through examination of all information available to them, including site inspections, whether a nursing home meets the regulations in order to achieve and maintain its registration status. Should a nursing home be deemed to be non-compliant with the Regulations and the National Quality Standards, it may either fail to achieve or lose its registration status. In addition, the Chief Inspector has wide discretion in deciding whether to impose conditions of Registration on nursing homes.
Having regard to the “COVID-19 Nursing Home Expert Panel: Examination of Measures to 2021”, HIQA’s paper on “The Need for Regulatory Reform” and learning from the pandemic, Minster Donnelly and I approved a two-phased approach to examining the legislation with a view to proposing enhancements to the primary and secondary legislation governing nursing homes.
Phase 1 will bring forward interim enhancements to the primary legislative framework to enhance governance and oversight of nursing homes. The proposals will, amongst other things, provide new and enhanced enforcement powers for the Chief Inspector; reduce timelines and processes for regulatory actions and introduce a new reporting system for the reporting and publication of key operational data to support national planning in an integrated way and improve the information available.
The Government is committed to the reform of the regulatory framework governing nursing homes and approved the inclusion of a Health (Amendment) Bill on its legislative agenda. It is expected that, subject to Government approval, a draft General Scheme will be published in early 2022, with a Bill being developed and published thereafter.
In addition, secondary legislation will be drafted to enhance the current regulations. A bilateral project group comprising representatives from the Department and HIQA, is supporting the legislative process.
A wider review of the regulatory framework, phase 2, will commence later in 2022. It will take into account a programme of longer-term strategic reform considerations arising from, inter alia, pandemic learnings.