Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 19 May 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children

HIQA Investigation into Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise (Resumed): Health Service Executive

11:30 am

Mr. Tony O'Brien:

I will continue my answer, if I may, and I will include an answer to that. A bit later in 2014 and partly in response to what had happened in Portlaoise and some of the work that Mr. Ian Carter did, I decided to make a further change to break up the quality and patient safety division, and have one entirely focused on quality improvement activities, which is working with staff around the application of evidence as to what improves quality. Dr. Philip Crowley leads that division while a second quality assurance and verification division which leads investigations, overseas complaint handling, and is changing the way we do complaint handling and operates, if one can use the term, something like an internal HIQA.

In other words, it has a mandate from me to go anywhere and everywhere and conduct its own initial investigations to improve matters. That explains the change in the title.