There should be a public consultation process put in train to give the wider population an opportunity to contribute their views on the entire nursing home regulatory system. We want to see far greater transparency in HIQA’s quality management system, key performance indicators and reporting metrics.
In particular, HIQA’s recent claims to the Oireachtas Committee that it needed further powers to enhance nursing home regulations need to be urgently clarified. This and HIQA’s apparent prior knowledge of some nursing homes failing to routinely comply with infection control measures and related standards of governance and suitability of premises, was not highlighted prior to the COVID-19 debacle. Likewise, we believe that nursing homes need to acknowledge their own shortcomings and failures in relation to COVID-19, including the lack of crisis planning.