Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue for discussion.

As the Deputy will be aware, in 2018 the HSE commissioned the National Independent Review Panel, NIRP, to review the governance arrangements of a residential service for adults with a disability in County Donegal. The NIRP’s executive summary of the Brandon report was published in December 2021, which was the Thursday before Christmas. This followed a look-back review completed in 2018 and a safety assurance report undertaken in 2020. As part of the HSE response, the chief operations officer established a strategic working group, SWG, in community healthcare organisation, CHO, 1. The objective of the SWG is to develop a new vision for disability services in line with national policy and based on a social and human rights model of service provision for people. This is in keeping with the transforming lives programme, which is focused on enabling people with disabilities to achieve their full potential. The CHO 1 SWG meets regularly to progress actions and oversee progress. I am advised the CHO 1 SWG has progressed the objectives of the group through an identified set of actions and the majority of these actions are now either completed or in progress. The work under way is aimed at ensuring there is a high-quality, robust and accountable governance structure in place, that the voice of service users and their families are heard and involved in the service improvement programme, and an improved and enhanced service model is delivered with positive outcomes for residents.

Moving on, Ard Greine Court residential service, which was the key focus of the initial service improvement workstream under the SWG, has undergone significant changes in the past year, with improvements to the current service delivered, safeguarding and compliance with national standards. What is not in my script, which the Deputy is reading, is that it is important to say I have met with family members in the past six weeks. I also met with a whistleblower in the past six weeks. It is unfortunate to see that the lack of communication evident in 2018 is still there in 2023. As I previously indicated, I am currently developing a safeguarding assurance exercise to be undertaken by an independent expert, which would build on the improvements in safeguarding already under way in CHO 1.

My hope is to ensure the voices of residents and their families, as well as those working in the area, contribute to the ongoing effort to continually strengthen safeguarding policy and practice. The aim, which is the question the Deputy has asked me about the support in this context, would be to have this process up and running by the end of June. My circulated script refers to the end of the summer. I will be three months in this Department by then, having moved in on 1 March 2023. I would hope to have this in place by the end of June. That is three months, and I have always said it would be three months in the context of moving from one Department to another. I have the support of my officials, and my assistant secretary, Mr. Colm Ó Conaill, has been more than helpful in ensuring I am able to work at pace to ensure I can put an independent person, along with that expert review panel, in place.

The residential disability services are subject to registration and inspection by HIQA in accordance with the provisions of the Health Act 2007. The purpose of the regulation is to safeguard and support the delivery of person-centred care to vulnerable people of any age receiving residential care services and to ensure their health, well-being and quality of life are promoted and protected. HIQA published 33 inspection reports from January to March 2023 on disability services designated centres in the community healthcare system in counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo. The findings of HIQA’s regulatory programme and the mechanisms put in place by the HSE may inform wider safeguarding practice, governance and policy, as appropriate. The ultimate aim is to ensure services are safe for clients, those working in the services are appropriately supported, the families are completely reassured their loved ones are getting the best possible care and attention, and all the safeguarding regulations are being adhered to.

I will revert to the Deputy.

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