Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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581. To ask the Minister for Health if he will introduce legislation to enable Health Information and Quality Authority investigate individual complaints about the standards of care in nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40927/14]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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630. To ask the Minister for Health the number of complaints received and the number of complaints investigated by the Health Service Executive in 2013 and to date in 2014; if these homes were public or private nursing homes; the outcome of the complaints received and the findings against the nursing home operators; if he has received complaints from the Health Information and Quality Authority about nursing homes; the actions taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41224/14]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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631. To ask the Minister for Health the nature of the engagement with the Health Information and Quality Authority in relation to unsolicited complaints received by it concerning the care of residents in nursing homes, private and public; when these discussions took place; the recommendations made by HIQA in relation to this issue; the proposals made in relation to updating legislation, and having a more effective national policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41225/14]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 581, 630 and 631 together.

The Health Information and Quality Authority is the independent authority established under the Health Act 2007 to drive continuous improvement and to monitor safety and quality in Ireland’s health and personal social care services.

Since 2009 all nursing homes - public, voluntary and private have been registered and inspected by HIQA. During the course of this Government HIQA’s function has been extended to residential services for those with disabilities and child protection services. In addition, the Department is committed to introducing a regulatory system for home care services, which will be subject to registration and inspection by HIQA, and work on this has already commenced.

The functions of the Minister for Health in relation to HIQA and the Chief Inspector of Social Services are prescribed in the Act and in this respect the Chief Inspector is independent in the exercise of those functions.

As regulator, HIQA's remit operates at the level of facilities rather than that of individual complaints, but the requirements at facility level impact very directly on how individual cases are dealt with.

Nursing home operators must ensure that all reasonable measures are taken to protect residents from all forms of abuse. These measures include staff training in relation to the detection and prevention of and responses to abuse.

Any incident or allegation of abuse must be investigated and operators must have policies and procedures in place for the prevention, detection and response to abuse. Furthermore, they must notify HIQA of any allegation of abuse or serious adverse incidents that occur in a nursing home.

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. Records of complaints made are required to be kept. These are available for inspection, thus enabling the HIQA inspector to determine whether the complaints system is sufficiently robust.

HIQA takes into account and uses all information received to inform and plan its regulatory activity, and information on individual cases can provide useful pointers in this context.

HIQA’s programme of both scheduled and unannounced inspections helps to ensure that standards are maintained and where issues of non-compliance arise, that these are addressed and rectified.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.

My Department, in consultation with both HIQA and the service providers, is working on an ongoing basis to improve and update the requirements that apply to nursing home care. Any request from HIQA for an extension of their remit on the lines suggested by the Deputy will be carefully considered.

The aspect of the Deputy's request in relation to complaints investigated by the Health Service Executive has been referred to the HSE for direct reply. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.