Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 10 September 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Examination of HIQA Report on the Impact of Covid-19 on Nursing Homes in Ireland

Ms Mary Dunnion:

I can say with hand on heart that it has not changed the robustness. Some representative bodies of nursing homes have described HIQA as pedantic, which is difficult in the context of what has happened across the sector. Covid-19 is a challenge. In that context, HIQA inspecting a nursing home that subsequently has a suspected or confirmed outbreak would bring a reciprocal action requiring us to isolate.