Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

527. To ask the Minister for Health if it is Government policy that any written allegation of psychological and-or financial abuse of a resident in a Health Service Executive residential unit for persons with disabilities should be recorded and reported as a statistic on Health Information and Quality Authority report arising from the next HIQA inspection following the making of the written allegation. [48445/14]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

HIQA began to regulate residential services for people with disabilities on 1 November 2013, pursuant to Statutory Instruments 366 (2013) and Statutory Instrument 367 (2013), which assign responsibility to HIQA for registering and inspecting residential services for children and adults with disabilities, including respite services.

All allegations of psychological and/or financial abuse of a resident in a Health Service Executive residential unit for persons with disabilities which are received by the Health Information and Quality Authority are recorded and acted on. The notifications and/or allegations are reviewed on inspection. Such inspections may be triggered by the notification/allegation, or may be conducted as part of the monitoring process.

Statistics relating to these matters are published in the Authority’s annual reports. Under the The HSE’s new National Policy and Procedures for Safeguarding Vulnerable Persons at Risk of Abuse, which I launched on the 5th December 2014 clears the way for staff members in HSE and non-HSE facilities, and members of the public, to refer allegations of abuse to designated reporting individuals.