Welcome to our newsletter.
I hope that this issue finds you safe and well.
From the onset of this public health emergency, HIQA has endeavoured to make an effective contribution to the protection of people living in and using health and social care services, as well as informing evidence-based decision-making.
We continue to work closely with the Department of Health and the HSE, alongside other public health organisations and the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), to provide support during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Recent structural changes see HIQA take up a role as the leading body providing evidence-based research on COVID-19 to NPHET to inform public health policy and decision-making. To this end, we have established an in-house Evidence Synthesis Team to develop research evidence, and a COVID-19 Expert Advisory Group to provide expert input into our research before it is submitted as advice to NPHET.
In line with our responsibilities under the Health Act, we continue to inspect and monitor nursing homes and residential centres for people with a disability. We are also working as part of the Nursing Homes Expert Panel’s implementation oversight group to ensure that the recommendations of their report are funded and implemented. In this issue we highlight our infection prevention and control supports and resources for providers and staff of designated centres – such as the infection prevention and control assurance framework and our online training module.
This month, we also welcomed the results of the first National Maternity Experience Survey. A joint project between HIQA, the Department of Health and the HSE, the survey asked new mothers about their recent experiences of Ireland’s maternity services — from antenatal care, through labour and birth, to postnatal care. The results detail women’s first-hand experiences of what’s working well in services and what could be improved.
I’m also pleased that this week we could launch a resource for health and social care providers who are developing and running their own surveys. The National Care Experience Programme Survey Hub offers a suite of resources for anyone aiming to capture the experiences of people who use health and social care services. We also look forward to continuing to work with the HSE and Department as we develop surveys to capture the care experiences of women who have been bereaved by stillbirth and neonatal death; families’ experiences of end-of-life care; and experience of older persons’ services.
You will find more information on all of these areas of our work in this issue. We also have updates on our latest work in the regulation of nursing homes, disability centres and medical exposure to ionising radiation, as well as on implementing national standards and health information recommendations.
Until next time,
Best wishes,
Phelim Quinn