Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 132: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her views on whether it is acceptable that some inspections of nursing homes are taken by environmental health officers who are not qualified to assess the standards of medical and nursing care; the reason, in the cases of inspections being carried out separately by medical and nursing team officials, these have not been made public; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35480/06]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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The inspection of private nursing homes is the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990. The 1990 Act provides for the registration of private nursing homes and procedures for attaching conditions to the registration and for de-registering homes. The Nursing Homes (Care and Welfare) Regulations, 1993 set out the standards which private nursing homes owners must adhere to in the provision of nursing home services.

In accordance with the Regulations, the HSE carries out inspections of private nursing homes. The HSE has inspection teams in each area. Each team is comprised of a Senior Area Medical Officer (Chairperson), a Director or Assistant Director of Public Health Nursing and a Principal or Senior Environmental Health Officer. Where Environmental Health Officers visit initially, a medical and nursing inspection is carried out soon afterwards.

Each nursing home receives an integrated report following inspection, which contains recommendations in relation to best practice/conditions, which are required for continued registration. Under the 1990 Nursing Homes Act and the 1993 Regulations, Health Service Executive areas can attach particular conditions to registration. Any deviation from these conditions can be subject to sanction up to and including legal action in the District and Higher Courts. The inspection team liaises with the proprietor to ensure compliance with the Regulations within an agreed timescale.

Two inspections per year of every nursing home are required in accordance with Article 24 of the Regulations. In addition the inspection teams carry out follow-up inspections as required and also conduct advice visits for prospective nursing homes.

The HSE has informed my Department that they commenced publishing nursing home inspection reports on their website: www.hse.ie in September 2006. The plan to publish nursing home inspection reports follows considerable consultation within the HSE and also with representatives of nursing homes organisations. It should be noted that the reports being published on the website will give a snapshot of the situation in a particular nursing home on the date of inspection. Information of a confidential nature will not be published.

In addition, a Working Group was established by the Department to develop the standards for residential care settings for older people. Membership of the Group comprised officials from the Department, the Health Service Executive, the Social Services Inspectorate and the Irish Health Service Accreditation Board. The Group was involved in developing draft standards for the inspection of both public and private residential care for older people. These draft standards will be circulated to interested parties for consultation shortly. In addition, the Irish Health Services Accreditation Board has examined the development of accreditation standards for both public and private residential care for older people. These will be introduced once national standards are established. The IHSAB and the DoHC are in ongoing consultation in relation to national and accreditation standards.