Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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1281. To ask the Minister for Health to provide an update on implementation of the Covid-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel Report, by recommendation. [45270/24]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The independent COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel was established in May 2020 to examine the complex issues surrounding the management of COVID-19 in nursing homes. The Expert Panel published its report in August 2020 which identified learnings and recommendations to inform the approach to the management and mitigation of risk to older persons resident in nursing homes as the pandemic evolved.

The Expert Panel recommendations have provided a guiding framework not only for the pandemic response in nursing homes but also more broadly for a wide-ranging programme of improvement and reform for older persons’ care in residential care settings. Four Progress Reports and an implementation progress update (October 2023) have been published to date. All reports can be found here:

I intend to publish a further implementation progress update in the coming days, which will highlight that 65 of the 86 recommendations have already been implemented and mainstreamed into normal operations.

Key areas of progress include:

• The Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Act was enacted in July 2024, and has been commenced. The Act amends the 2007 Health Act to give the regulator (HIQA) further powers in relation to enforcement and data collection.
• The Care and Welfare Regulations are being amended to further strengthen the regulatory framework for nursing homes including in the areas of visiting, IPC, resident’s rights, criteria for PICs and governance. These will be published imminently.
• The Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 includes a new provision giving the Chief Inspector of Social Services a discretionary power to review serious patient safety incidents in nursing homes.
• €1.6m was provided in Budget 2024 to facilitate registered nurses working in private nursing homes to obtain a postgraduate diploma qualification in Gerontological Nursing. €1.6m in funding has also been secured in Budget 2025 to enable a second year of this programme.
• The final research report on the development of a Safe Staffing and Skill Mix Framework for the sector will be published shortly, and Taskforce recommendations will be sent to Government early next year and a policy developed thereafter.
• The Independent Commission on Care for Older People began its work in March 2024 to examine the provision of health and social care services and support for older people and to make recommendations to the Government for their strategic development. A report from the Commission on Module 1 is expected in early 2025.
• The Patient Advocacy Service was extended to private nursing homes from November 2022.
• Revised Regulations to enhance and streamline complaints processes came into effect in March 2023.
• A Palliative and end-of-life programme for nursing homes which was launched in 2022 continues to deliver education and training to staff.
• The results of the first Nursing Homes Care Experience survey were published in November 2022.
• New dedicated Infection Prevention and Control and Safeguarding Specialist Capacities for nursing homes have been established across the 6 health regions.