Seán Power: Inspection procedures ‘ridiculous’

The minister with responsibility for the elderly, Seán Power, yesterday admitted inspection procedures for nursing homes were “ridiculous” and vowed to do something about it.

He shouldn't and couldn't have been surprised, however, as this issue has been raised and subsequently ignored since 1997.

February 1997: The then Health Minister, Fine Gael TD Michael Noonan, is asked in the Dáil "the plans, if any, he has for the establishment of an independent inspectorate to oversee the operation of nursing homes." Mr Noonan responds: "The Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990, assigns responsibility for the inspection of nursing homes to health boards ...

"In relation to an independent inspectorate to oversee the operation of nursing homes, it is possible that when the proposed new social services inspectorate is up and running, its remit might be extended to include nursing homes for the elderly."

June 2000: Irish Heart Foundation report says ongoing audit of standards of long-term care "will require an independent inspectorate and the position of an ombudsman for long-term care should be instituted".

December 2000: The National Council on Ageing and Older People calls for an independent inspectorate "comprised of people with first-hand experience of providing high standards of care for the elderly".

February 2001: Fine Gael tables a motion in the Dáil calling for an independent inspectorate "for both private and public nursing homes." The same month, the issue is raised with then Health Minister Mícheál Martin by Opposition TDs during a hearing of the Dáil Select Committee on Health.

July 2001: Fine Gael Senator Fergus O'Dowd says "there should be an inspectorate separate from the health boards and from every other organisation, which would be fully qualified, resourced and staffed, and called on the Government to immediately apply its mind to this issue".

He tells the Seanad: "Senators might find it hard to believe that there is a nursing home in the North Eastern Health Board region that gets its patients up at 5.30am, but it is true.

"The reason they are out of bed at that hour is that there are several high-dependent patients there and there is inadequate staff to go in at 8 o'clock to get them dressed and ready for breakfast."

March 2002: Michael Noonan, then Fine Gael leader, asks the Minister for Health in the Dáil "if he has considered the establishment of an independent inspectorate". The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Dr Tom Moffatt, responds: "No arrangements are in place.

"It is planned to rectify this by expanding the role of the social services inspectorate to cover extended care facilities for older people as soon as possible."

April 2003: A report by the Human Rights Commission highlights shortcomings in the inspection system.

Looking at two regions, it notes inspections are rarely carried out at night, they are largely concerned with physical conditions and rarely address quality of life issues. It also criticises lack of prosecutions and the fact that health boards "almost never close down a nursing home".

The commission said yesterday it took the Department of Health eight months to reply to the issues it raised.

April 2003: At its annual conference, the Irish Medical Organisation passes a motion demanding that assessments of care in public, private and voluntary nursing homes "are undertaken regularly and in a systematic manner by an independent inspectorate".

December 2004: Labour TD Seán Ryan calls for the establishment of an independent inspectorate to "investigate allegations of abuse".

April 2005: The IMO passes another motion calling for an independent inspectorate.