INDEPENDENT INSPECTIONS of all nursing homes in the public and private sector are still not taking place more than three years after the changes were promised following the Leas Cross exposé, it was confirmed yesterday.
The new regime cannot be put in place until new draft standards for nursing homes published by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) last March are put on a statutory footing.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said yesterday there had to be consultation with nursing homes before the standards could be finalised. This has now concluded.
She said there had to be an assessment carried out on the financial impact of the new standards before they could be put on a statutory footing. She expects this cost-benefit analysis shortly from PA Consulting.
At present only private nursing homes are inspected and they continue to be inspected by the HSE. However, when Hiqa takes over this role next year public nursing homes run by the HSE and privately owned homes will be inspected.
Ms Harney was speaking at the annual conference of Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) in Dublin.
Dr Marion Witton, chief inspector of social services with Hiqa, said the standards were "outcome standards" and many of them did not require huge resources.
Making sure people had enough to drink every day, were treated with dignity, and that staff were looking after them properly didn't necessarily cost much, she said.
"This is about what people should be able to expect when then they get to be old and need care," she said.
Tadhg Daly, chief executive of NHI, said nursing homes were concerned the new standards weren't yet implemented. But he warned they would come at a cost and could significantly drive up the cost of nursing home care.