Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies for raising the issue of Dingle Community Hospital as it provides me with an opportunity to address this issue and reaffirm the Government's commitment to providing quality residential care for older people. The Government's policy is to support older people to live independently and with dignity in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Where this is not feasible, the health service supports access to quality long-term residential care where this is appropriate. We continue to develop and improve health services in all regions of the country and to ensure quality and patient safety.

It is important that we have effective mechanisms in place to maintain and enhance public confidence in the delivery of quality services. The well-being and safety of the individual resident guides us in reforming the health service. This Government places great importance on the policies, standards and legislation we are implementing to achieve this end.

Older people deserve the highest quality of care in both public and private settings. Formal standards are a key requirement for inspection and registration. They set a benchmark for service providers to deliver a service that promotes health, well-being and quality of life. With this in mind, my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, approved national quality standards for residential care settings for older people in February 2009. As Deputies are aware, there are 32 standards under seven groupings, namely, rights, protection, health and social needs, quality of life, staffing, the care environment and governance and management. These standards set the benchmark for residential care settings for older people in Ireland and deal with, among other issues, their physical environment. Standard No. 25 states: "...the location, design and layout of the residential care setting are suitable for its stated purpose. It is accessible, safe, hygienic, spacious and well maintained and meets residents' individual and collective needs in a comfortable and homely way."

However, the standards are about much more than infrastructure. They are resident-centred and provide a blueprint for the provision of a higher standard of care, delivered against a set of understood and developed criteria, designed to improve and enhance care and recognise good practice. They are evidence-based and identify whether the best services possible are being delivered in an effective and appropriate way.

Older people, their families and the public must have confidence that quality standards are being implemented across the system. These standards will play a pivotal role in driving improvements in the quality and safety of residential care for older people in the years ahead. The standards are underpinned by both the care and welfare and the registration regulations. They provide the chief inspector of social services, who is part of HIQA, with a regulatory framework applicable to all nursing homes. The chief inspector is responsible for the registration and inspection of nursing homes and for ensuring they continue to meet the standards.

As Deputies are aware, the new community nursing unit in Dingle and the time it is taking to open it have attracted media attention, locally and nationally. I understand planning permission was granted by Kerry County Council in early 2007. The original design had to be modified due to the compulsory purchase by the council of some of the site for an inner relief road. Work on site started in October 2007 and was completed in December 2008. The HSE equipped the new unit over the course of 2009 and submitted the completed registration pack to HIQA in April 2010 to enable the centre to be registered and to open. HIQA inspected the unit in June and the chief inspector issued the notice of proposed decision on registration on 15 September. Under section 54 of the Health Act 2007, the HSE has 28 days to make representations concerning the proposed decision. I understand discussions are ongoing between the HSE and HIQA on the proposed decision and I am confident the issue will be resolved.

It will be clear to the House from this outline that this Government's commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of residents in nursing homes is undeniable and we will continue to work with all relevant stakeholders in this sector.

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