Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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757. To ask the Minister for Health if he has required HIQA to undertake an investigation on the grounds that there is a serious risk to the health or welfare of a person in a nursing home, as a result of failure or negligence by the HSE, a HSE funded provider, a provider of a designated centre or the person in charge of a designated centre since the enactment of the Health Act 2007 and with particular reference to section 9(2) of the Act; if so, the details of such order and the outcomes of such investigations; if any request to a Minister under this section of the Act to carry out or order such an inquiry has been refused; if so, the details of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35715/22]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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758. To ask the Minister for Health if he will ensure that HSE safeguarding and protection teams will have the statutory legal right of access to private nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35717/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I take issues in relation to safeguarding very seriously. My Department is at an advanced stage of developing a national policy on adult safeguarding specifically for the health and social care sector, the policy will cover all public, private, and voluntary settings including private nursing homes. It is anticipated that the policy will cover a wide range of issues, which may include rights of access to premises and records. As a national, sectoral policy it is envisaged that any such provisions would be applied consistently across all settings. In that regard, legislating for a right of access to any setting is a complex matter and the Department and other stakeholders would be required to consider any such a move very carefully to ensure that any such right would be evidence-based and proportionate.

The Department expects in the near future to announce details of a public consultation with the intention of submitting a costed policy to the Government for its approval around the end of 2022. Any required underpinning legislation will be prepared following Government approval of the new policy.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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759. To ask the Minister for Health if he will ensure that independent advocates will have appropriate access to residents in private nursing homes under agreed protocols and on request from residents or family next of kin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35727/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Access to independent advocates is governed by legislation under the Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People) Regulations 2013. Regulation 9 provides that registered providers of nursing home care are obliged to uphold a residents’ right to access to independent advocacy services.

The Patient Advocacy Service (PAS) is an independent health complaints advocacy service which was established by my Department in 2018. PAS provides a free and independent service to help users of public acute hospitals making or intending to make a formal complaint. The Programme for Government: Our Shared Future (2020) contained a commitment to examine extending the remit of PAS to residents of long-term residential care facilities.

In February 2021, the original PAS contract was extended, and from June 2021 the service was offered to HSE-operated nursing homes and nursing homes operated under arrangement pursuant to Section 38.

Earlier this year, the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities (NAS) was awarded the contract for the next iteration of PAS. This next iteration of the service, commencing from November 2022, will include expansion to private nursing homes.

In advance of the next iteration of PAS, my Department is examining complaints processes across the nursing home sector including key data, information on best practice, the level of standardisation, and the views of key stakeholders including residents and families, with a view to determining the need to develop enablers such as policy, legislative and/or guidance instruments. In parallel with this work, my Department is also examining whether any legislative amendments will be required to support the rollout of the advocacy service to private nursing homes.