Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Health the reason there is no legislation to enable the Health Information Quality Authority inspection and oversight amongst hospices and other palliative care centres; if he is planning to address this anomaly; when such legislation can be expected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11781/13]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Residential services in which the majority of persons being cared for and maintained are being treated for acute illness or provided with palliative care are specifically excluded from the definition of "designated centres" in the Health Act 2007.

The National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare were formally launched by HIQA on 26 June 2012. The National Standards are intended to underpin the licensing system for healthcare providers and will be the basis for the monitoring and inspection regime. At present a communication and awareness programme is being rolled out to hospitals by HIQA and the HSE. The Standards ensure service providers protect patients from risk and from harm, inform patients of adverse events, acknowledge and support the key role of staff, promote good governance and make the best use of information and resources to deliver high quality and safe care within the resources available. Standard 1.7 requires service providers to promote a culture of kindness, consideration and respect. The Standard ensures that a service provider should recognise that at certain stages of a services user’s care and treatment, some individuals (for example, those who may be approaching end of life) may be more vulnerable than others and the service provider should proactively identify the likely points where this may occur and provide mechanisms to support service users. The Standards will form the basis for the future licensing of all healthcare facilities in Ireland.

In support of the Programme for Government commitment to the introduction of a national licensing system, work is currently underway in the Department on legislative proposals relating to the development of a licensing framework for health facilities. Such a framework will provide for a mandatory system of licensing for public and private health service providers. It is designed to improve patient safety by ensuring that healthcare providers do not operate below core standards which are applied in a consistent and systematic way. Once finalised, Government approval to carry out a public consultation process will be sought.