Written answers

Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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1442. To ask the Minister for Health if he has satisfied himself that HIQA has enough powers under existing legislation to deal with allegations of abuse by staff of residents in nursing homes; if he will end the practice of announcing inspections by HIQA in advance; his views on whether cameras should be installed in nursing homes where appropriate; if criminal proceedings can be taken against staff that may engage in such activities; if he has further satisfied himself that there is transparency and accountability regarding nursing homes generally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28474/17]

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) 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.

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, providers must notify HIQA of any allegation of abuse or serious adverse incidents that occur in a nursing home.

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.

Images of people captured by closed circuit television (CCTV) are personal data and the processing of such images is covered by the Data Protection legislation. The National Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People provides that “ Where closed circuit television (CCTV) systems are used to protect the safety and security of residents, they do not intrude on privacy and there is a policy on the use of CCTV which is informed by relevant legislation."

As regulator, HIQA’s remit operates at level of facilities rather than of individual complaints. However, HIQA takes into account and uses all information received to inform and plan its regulatory activity. The Authority has and will continue to report any potential criminal act identified during monitoring and inspection to An Garda. Once finalised, HIQA inspection reports are published on the Authority's website www.hiqa.ie.

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