National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People.
On Thursday 23rd October, 2008 the Minister for Health and Children, Ms Mary Harney TD and her colleague the Minister for Older People, Ms Máire Hoctor, TD hosted a consultation session on the National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People. The consultation took place in the Erin Room in Dublin Castle.
Earlier this year the Board of the Health Information Authority approved their draft National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People and submitted them for the approval of the Minister for Health and Children, as required under the 2007 Health Act. The draft Standards and the Regulations required to underpin them are subject to a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) before finalisation. The RIA process has commenced and it is intended to have the RIA finalised and both the approved Standards and Regulations in place in 2009.
The purpose of the day was to provide key stakeholders an opportunity to feed into and inform the RIA before finalisation and to discuss the standards, their criteria and proposed Regulations in advance of their introduction. Participants included representatives from;
- The National Federation of Pensioners Association.
- Caring for Carers,
- Patient Focus,
- Rehab Group,
- Peter Bradley Foundation
- Disability Federation of Ireland,
- The Irish Haemophilia Society and
- Office of the Ombudsman,
Service providers were represented by Nursing Homes Ireland, representative organisation for the private and voluntary nursing homes sector, the Health Service Executive, together with several private nursing home owners and several participants from the Voluntary Sector. Dr Tracey Cooper, Chief Executive of HIQA was also in attendance together with a number of representatives from the medical professional organisations.
Minister Hoctor opened the session and her speech is attached together with a presentation prepared by the Department. This was followed by a guest speaker who discussed the impact regulations had when they were introduced in child care residential settings.
Concerns and issues raised by participants which will be taken into account in drafting the regulations, included;
- Environmental standards, including fire regulations, transition provisions for existing centres and transfer of ownership.
- Staffing issues, including staff and skill mix, staffing levels and qualifications.
- Access to therapies and medical care and communications between nursing homes and other parts of the health services.
- The particular needs of residents, including mental health and the particular issue of younger people in older people’s residential centres.
- Importance in maintaining the individual’s rights and dignity and role of Advocacy Services for philosophy of care going forward.
Other issues discussed included;
- Community Services and their role in need to complementing Residential Services.
- The introduction of Fair Deal at the same time as the regulations and the general issue of resources for older people in care
On closing the session Minister Harney thanked everyone for their contributions and confirmed that “this consultation forms a vital role in hearing from you, the many stakeholders involved and will feed into the final analyses. Our challenge for next year is to work to ensure that
- patient safety is of paramount importance
- quality standards are being implemented across the system,
- people have confidence in the services, and
- the best possible patient outcomes can be achieved.
Related Documents
Opening address by Minister Hoctor for the Consultation Session in Dublin Castle
