Campaigner calls for review into Hiqa as nursing homes continue to fail to meet basic standards

Nursing homes residents advocacy group Care Champions says questions need to be asked about why so many Hiqa-registered nursing homes are failing basic standards.

CEO Majella Beattie believes there needs to be a review of how Hiqa operates.

She was reacting to the latest round of inspection reports from the watchdog which shows many failings in the inspected homes.

Almost all of the Hiqa-regulated nursing homes in the watchdog’s latest list of inspection reports have failed to fully comply with basic regulations.

Of the 35 reports published today, inspectors found evidence of good practice and compliance with the regulations and standards on just six of the inspections.

Inspectors found evidence of non-compliance on 29 inspections.

On these inspections, areas of non-compliance included governance and management, fire precautions, staffing, infection control, risk management, and notification of incidents.

They also included areas around personal possessions, residents’ rights, individual assessment and care plans, and complaints procedures.

Today’s reports include five homes in Cork, eight in Dublin, and four in Meath.

Of the last round of nursing homes inspection reports, in October, evidence of non-compliance was found in 32 of the 49 reports.

And in August, more than half of nursing homes inspected by the watchdog - and which it regulates - in the first six months of 2021 were found not to be compliant with regulations.

Of the 61 reports, incidents of non-compliance were found in 35 nursing homes.

Ms Beattie said: “The Food Safety Authority has the power to shut down restaurants for dirty walls, mouse droppings or anything, basically.

But here we are again, with yet another round of Hiqa inspection reports showing that most of the homes the watchdog is regulating can’t meet basic standards.

“And as well as dirty kitchens, we are constantly hearing about fire safety issues, poor infection controls, issues over residents' basic human rights and a whole appalling variety of concerns that affect human beings.

"And yet, while restaurants up and down the country can be shut down, very little is done about non-compliant nursing homes."

Ms Beattie called for a review into the work done by Hiqa to find out why many of the homes "can't meet basic standards".

“The question has to be asked: why is this happening all the time.” 

She added: “This is now as important as ever with the rise in [Covid19 case] numbers.

“I fear that we could see a rise in the number of Covid-related deaths, regardless of the fact that residents have been vaccinated.”

Hiqa said: “The regulation of nursing homes incorporates more than inspections.

“It also includes the ongoing monitoring of solicited and unsolicited information and engagement with registered providers.

“Inspections, and inspection reports, reflect the findings at a moment in time, on the day of inspection.

“When non-compliance is found, the most important thing is how providers respond to the inspection findings and what action they take to bring their centre into compliance.”

Donegal TD Thomas Pringle, referencing the sexual abuse scandal at the HSE’s Ard Gréine Court campus and St Joseph’s Community Hospital in Stranorlar, Co Donegal, said: “I would have had respect for Hiqa until this Donegal situation.” The watchdog was given the names of victims of sexual abuse at the HSE-run facility in 2016.

This was two years before any of the families involved were told their loved ones had been sexually abused.

Deputy Pringle said of the watchdog in general: “I thought their reports were quite good and quite hard-hitting.

“But the problem is there is no real stick.

“They are using their reports as a stick to force change.

“I have lost that respect I had (for Hiqa) and I will from now be taking a closer look at how they do their business.”