Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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230. To ask the Minister for Health the measures HIQA will take to ensure the safety and well-being of vulnerable residents in a nursing home (details supplied). [39271/24]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I must remind the Deputy of the independence of the Chief Inspector of Social Services and of the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) as the national independent regulator of designated centres for older people including public community nursing units and private nursing homes.

HIQA has significant and wide-ranging powers up to and including withdrawing the registration of a nursing home facility, which means that it can no longer operate as a service provider. This responsibility is underpinned by a comprehensive quality framework comprising of Registration Regulations, Care and Welfare Regulations and National Quality Standards.

HIQA, in discharging its duties determines, through examination of all information available to it, including site inspections, whether a nursing home meets the regulations in order to achieve and maintain its registration status. Should a nursing home be deemed to be non-compliant with the Regulations and the National Quality Standards, it may either fail to achieve or lose its registration status. In addition, the Chief Inspector has wide discretion in deciding whether to impose conditions of Registration on nursing homes.

My Department directed this query to the Health Information Quality Authority the following is their response;

"Using the HIQA Chief Inspector’s regulatory framework, the HIQA inspectors of social services are maintaining close oversight of this designated centre to ensure that residents receive safe and appropriate care. Repeat inspections were carried out in July and August with the reports of these inspections currently being finalised."