Ms Carol Grogan:

On what we could examine, HIQA produced a report on regulatory reform in early 2021 in which we highlighted the need for a social care policy that will take account of the continuum of care throughout the social care spectrum. In the context of the issues the Senator raised, the research we produced in regard to home care identified the issue's complexity and called for a root-and-branch review of the provision of home care services to ensure the future home care scheme would be fit for purpose and meet the needs. It would also allow for that continuum of care where people may not be able to be cared for at home and may need to move into longer term facilities, with help to be given for that decision-making, which goes back to the rights-based approach.

As for what happens in the context of inspection and the timeframe after that, the function of our inspections is to assess compliance with the regulations and standards, and we take a rights-based approach to that. It is very much about the impact of compliance or non-compliance on the people who live in those centres. There are three categories of compliance, namely, compliant, substantially compliant, which means the provider is almost there but there are some improvements to be made, and non-compliance, which means that the provider has not met the requirements of the regulation, each of which comprises a number of sub-regulations. We ask providers to consider not just the one issue we might have identified on inspection but the entirety of the regulation in order to see how they can come back into compliance and to determine whether there are other areas they need to address.

Not all non-compliance cases are the same. Some might have a greater impact on residents, while others might relate to, for example, a documentation issue. We look at what the impact of the non-compliance is on residents. We take action and, as Mr. Colfer outlined, that action can include the cancellation of a registration as a result of the residents being put at risk, but providers are asked to submit their plans to us. If we believe the risk to the residents has increased, we will outline a timeline by which the provider it must comply. We review the compliance plans. Members will see from our inspection reports where sometimes we have not been assured by a provider's response to us, and we publish that and it is transparent. If we are not assured, we will go back out and not wait, and we will seek updates from the provider.

On the exact response and pathway, Mr. Colfer might outline exactly what happens when we get a notification.