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.
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.
Standardised language is essential to the provision of good quality and safe care. It ensures those using, running and working in services have the same understanding of phrases and terms related to care. While standardised language exists in healthcare, until recently there was no comparable list of terms for use in social care. Earlier this week, at an event for stakeholders, we launched a Lexicon for Social Care.
A shared learning event for board members and executive management teams of centres for people with disabilities was hosted by HIQA in March at the Printworks in Dublin Castle.
The event focused on the importance of the relationship between boards and executive management teams for good governance of disability centres and the impact it has on those availing of services.
Our Chief Inspector of Social Services, Carol Grogan, and Head of Children’s Services, Eva Boyle, attended the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) event, ‘A Decade of Progress: Building a Better Future Together’, in Dublin Castle in February.
Our work regulating and monitoring the activity of nursing homes is ongoing, however it is also important that we take the opportunity to reflect on the developments and the work that took place during 2023.
We were pleased to address the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health in recent weeks to discuss our work and role in health and social care.
Members of our team have been attending a variety of conferences over the last number of months, and used these opportunities to discuss and exchange ideas with national and international colleagues. For example, attending the recent National Patient Safety Office and European Social Network conferences among others.
On Thursday 27 October, Carol Grogan, Chief Inspector of Social Services, accompanied by Finbarr Colfer, Deputy Chief Inspector, and Ciara McShane, Interim National Operations Manager, appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters.
In a recent opinion piece in the Irish Examiner, Chief Inspector Mary Dunnion wrote that the current legislation for cancelling the registration of a centre is limited, and needs to be changed to allow for the swift action that residents deserve.
