Issue 63 – HIQA News

Message from the CEO

Welcome to our October newsletter.

An important theme in this month’s newsletter is working collaboratively with key stakeholders to support improvements in the quality and safety of health and social care services delivery. This is one of our core values as a regulator. We value the collaborative partnerships that we have with a diverse range of stakeholders and the feedback that we receive from them about our work.

Over the past few months, we have been working on our Corporate Plan 2025-2027, which will set out our strategic direction, mission, vision and values and our strategic objectives.

Public consultation opens on HIQA’s draft Corporate Plan 2025-2027

Members of the public and stakeholders are invited to share their views on HIQA’s future direction through a public consultation on our draft Corporate Plan 2025-2027.

15 years of regulating nursing homes marked

We marked 15 years of regulating nursing homes this month with the publication of an overview report at an event hosted in Dublin.

The event, ‘Reflecting on 15 Years Regulating Nursing Homes Past, Present and Future’ was opened by Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler.

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Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 commences

On 26 September 2024, the Minister for Health commenced the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023. This piece of legislation expands HIQA’s remit into private hospitals and puts new requirements on health services providers to report notifiable incidents to HIQA and the Chief Inspector of Social Services. This will promote greater safety and transparency in healthcare services.

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HIQA finds enhanced flu vaccine may be more effective at preventing flu for people aged 65 and older

A health technology assessment conducted by HIQA has found evidence that two types of enhanced flu vaccines may be more effective than the standard flu vaccine in preventing cases of flu or flu-related hospitalisation in those aged 65 and older.

€2.5m funding awarded to help develop clinical guidelines

In August, we received €2.5 million in funding from the Health Research Board to continue to support the development of national clinical guidelines.

This four-year award will fund the Centre in Ireland for Clinical guideline support and Evidence Reviews (CICER), a partnership comprising HIQA, Trinity College Dublin and clinical and methodological experts, until 2028.

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Health Technology assessment updates

During recent months we have continued to advance our health technology assessment work across a diverse range of areas including publicly-funded services for fertility preservation, an alternative national emergency phone service for acute but non-urgent medical care, and a public consultation on updated guidelines for health technology assessments.