Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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596. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware that private nursing homes continue to refuse next-of-kin access to deceased persons records; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8079/23]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Under Section 21(3) of the Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People Regulations 2013, all Nursing Homes and care providers are obliged to retain Health Information for 7 years.

Granting access to a deceased persons records is a matter between the private nursing home and the next-of-kin of the deceased person. However, the family may wish to make the Health Information and Quality Authority aware if they are concerned about this matter.

As a regulator, HIQA has no formal legal role in examining individual complaints. However, HIQA does take into account all information it receives, including complaints from the public, when carrying out inspections. If a concern is raised about a nursing home, HIQA reviews all information received to inform its on-going risk-based regulation activities. HIQA welcomes information in relation to designated centres that come within its regulatory remit.

The Office of the Ombudsman can also examine complaints relating to the administrative actions of nursing homes. The Office of the Ombudsman normally only deals with a complaint once the individual has already gone through the complaints procedure of the nursing home concerned. Contact details are available at .