Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas as ucht an deis labhairt ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo. I acknowledge Deputy O'Dowd's long-standing commitment in this area and his fearless dedication and commitment to raising issues and highlighting injustices he has come across in the system.

I understand that the Deputy raises this important issue in the context of a recent "Prime Time" programme which was broadcast, as he said, on 25 October. The care and well-being of the residents is the primary consideration of the person in charge of each residential care centre. The overarching principle is that families play an important role in the care of their loved ones and that visiting should be facilitated in the interest of the resident unless there are compelling reasons this cannot be done. The Health Service Executive does not routinely use visiting restrictions in residential care centres. These settings are now mainly overseen and regulated by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, or the Mental Health Commission. The inspection reports of both regulatory authorities include the views of residents and their families in many instances.

It is important to have effective mechanisms to maintain and enhance public confidence in the delivery of quality residential care. Residents, their families and the public need to be reassured that the care people receive is monitored. Our system of regulation and inspection was established for the sole purpose of ensuring safety and quality of care for nursing home residents. While standards of care are, thankfully, generally very good, we cannot and will not be complacent when it comes to the protection of older people and other vulnerable people.

Under current legislation, visiting restrictions may be put in place on occasion for a variety of reasons, including safety concerns relating to infection control and the safeguarding of residents from risk of harm. In respect of older people's settings, both public and private, the registered provider is required to make arrangements for a resident to receive visitors and the person in charge shall ensure that, insofar as is reasonably practicable, visits to a resident are not restricted unless such a visit would, in the opinion of the person in charge, pose a risk to the resident concerned or to another resident, or the resident concerned has requested the restriction of visits. In addition, all nursing homes are required to have an accessible and effective complaints procedure, including an appeals process. They must investigate all complaints promptly and, following investigation, put in place any measures required for improvement.

The provisions of the Mental Health Act 2001 (Approved Centres) Regulations 2006 include a requirement that approved mental health centres take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of residents and visitors and have written operational policies and procedures on visits and the health and safety of residents, staff and visitors. The HSE currently has 11 instances where visiting to residents is restricted in services for older persons and mental health services. This is in the context of currently providing more than 7,000 such beds across those services. The cases in which restrictions have been put in place are for a variety of reasons, including the residents in question being wards of court, family members holding enduring power of attorney and having requested certain restrictions, and safeguarding concerns. The HSE has advised that each of the current instances where some level of a restriction on visiting is in place will be reviewed. I welcome that decision.

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