Dáil debates
Wednesday, 1 February 2006
Social Services Inspectorate: Motion (Resumed).
8:00 pm
John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
The farming community has a high level of inspection but when it comes to the care of the aged, it seems extraordinarily difficult to develop an inspection regime that can carry out an unannounced hygiene audit.
I have been involved with the Excellence Ireland Quality Association awards for many years. Its inspectors enter business operations and check everything, which should be the case in regard to nursing homes. There should be a standard of accreditation for nursing homes, such as a Q-mark, which would accredit that they have been subject to unannounced checks. There is no point telling those running a unit that it will be inspected next week — the inspection should be completely unannounced. I am astonished that standards have lagged with regard to the care of the aged. Inspections should have been in place years ago.
The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, all promised legislation. Of course, they were echoing a litany of unfulfilled commitments in a series of Government publications. While the issue of making refunds is complicated, it is extraordinary that the process has taken so long. Many people who were due payments have died in the past year and a half and the process has been marked by uncertainty for people who felt they were due payments, unclear legality in the collection of charges and the fact that next-of-kin will now benefit from the fund.
Continuing to break Government promises is a direct contradiction of the recommendations of numerous reports on the elderly which the Government commissioned, including the most recent report of NESF. The absence of such a regime means the standards applying to nursing homes are unclear and, in particular following public concerns about conditions in some nursing homes, it is essential that this system is made absolutely transparent to reassure people in their latter years.
The inspection regime is particularly vital because it should inform the HSE's decisions on the registration of nursing homes. It is wrong that a nursing home can open without the application of strict qualification criteria. If one opened a hotel, strict rules would apply before it was awarded two, three or four stars. Similar accreditation should apply to nursing homes. They should be star-rated according to different categories and facilities, and charges should relate to the star-rating of the facility. It is extremely worrying if, as one newspaper report reveals today, there are certain cases where this is not happening. How can we have faith in the organisation which is meant to ensure our elderly people are placed in appropriate care if, in some cases, it ignores the advice of inspectors?
This is yet another reason for the inspection regime to be put on a statutory footing, to ensure the inspectorate is properly resourced and to make the inspectors' reports fully available to the public. My fear is that, if the Government continues to drag its feet, we will hear many more of the nightmare stories about the treatment of elderly people in nursing homes. I accept there are some fine nursing homes but having an independent inspectorate which would award qualifications and accredit institutions is critically important. I am somewhat disappointed that, given the scandal relating to MRSA, public health officials who are highly qualified and capable of carrying out independent inspections of hygiene in hospitals do not do so.
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