Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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682. To ask the Minister for Health if he is satisfied with the care plan in place in a nursing home (details supplied) in Dublin 6W for residents with Alzheimer's disease. [16712/14]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The Deputy’s question refers to a private nursing home. All nursing homes are subject to the same core standards and regulations in relation to quality and safety in order to ensure the well-being of their residents. Under the Health Act 2007, statutory responsibility is given to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), for the independent registration and inspection of designated centres providing residential services for older people.

The Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres) Regulations 2009 require that each resident’s needs are set out in an individual care plan developed and agreed with each resident. The Regulations, which underpin HIQA's National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for older Peoplealso require that suitable and sufficient care is provided to maintain the resident’s welfare and well-being, having regard to the nature and extent of the resident’s dependency and needs as set out in their care plan.

If the Deputy has concerns about a particular nursing home, it is a matter for HIQA to determine whether that nursing home is in breach of the Regulations or the quality standards. If a nursing home is found not to be in compliance with the Regulations it may either fail to achieve or lose its registration status. HIQA also has wide discretion in deciding whether to impose conditions of registration on nursing homes.