Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for not being here for the opening statement, which I have read, however. I had to launch a document on mental health, which is the reason I stepped out of the committee. I had given a commitment.

On nursing homes, there is a perception currently that HIQA only inspects by giving notice. In fairness, HIQA also carries out inspections without giving notice at a large number of nursing homes and it is important to ensure that information is publicised. In regard to this facility, I do not understand something about the lack of checks and balances. For instance, some of the information we got from the "Prime Time" report indicates that if there were a medical review of patients, the average GP would have been able to identify a patient in a more distressed state if it was something that happened suddenly. If it was not suddenly happening and had not occurred over a short period of time, that means it was going on for a long period of time. Where was the failure here? In every system in the health care sector, there are checks and balances and we do not always need HIQA to identify issues. What else do we need to put in place outside HIQA and the appointment of a confidential recipient? The patients themselves will not be able to get the number of the confidential recipient. From a medical and nursing care perspective what else do we need to do in terms of checks and balances to ensure we do not have a repeat of this or, if it is happening in other facilities, to ensure we can identify it at an early stage and deal with it? What is the response of the witnesses to that?