Whistleblowers in the health service who report medical and welfare malpractice will be protected under provisions of a new health Bill setting up an independent "rigorous and robust" health inspectorate for all nursing homes.
The Bill establishes the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) and through it the health inspectorate will be responsible for public and private nursing homes, for centres for people with disabilities and for children's residential centres.
The inspectorate will oversee standards in foster care for children, pre-school services and "boarding out" of older people, where they live in someone's home, and will carry out at least one inspection every year of children's detention centres.
Provisions include measures to allow the urgent closure of sub-standard residential centres. All nursing homes will have to register every three years and fines of up to €70,000 and prison terms of up to two years can be imposed on anyone convicted of an indictable offence.
Registration details will be available on the internet and registrations can be cancelled if the nursing home or centre fails to meet standards.
Introducing the legislation during a special two-day Dáil sitting, Minister for Health Mary Harney said she was "deeply conscious of the public concern and concerns expressed in this House regarding the level of protection provided to employees in the health service who raise issues concerning the safety and welfare of patients".
She said: "I will be introducing specific provisions in the Health Bill regarding the protected disclosure of information".
Ms Harney described the Bill as a "crucial element of the reform programme and is a new departure for the health services. For the first time we are creating a body whose purpose will be to set quality standards and monitor enforcement of standards in an open and transparent way."
She added: "We are leaving behind the old system. That system included, for too long, inconsistent standards across health boards, opaque standards, incomplete standards and even no standards". Stressing that a rigorous and robust inspection system is being set in place, Ms Harney said the authority will have very strong powers.
"It will set national standards and the chief inspector will inspect residential facilities against these standards. Where necessary, the Bill provides for action to be taken quickly to protect service users. This includes provisions for the urgent closure of centres. There will no longer be any issue about the legal capacity to shut down urgently a failing nursing home or residential centre."
The chief inspector will have extensive powers and may enter a centre, examine any records, take copies of documents and inspect and remove other relevant items.
Part of its powers also include monitoring compliance with standards and undertaking investigations on the quality, safety and standards of services. The authority will also carry out assessments of health technologies, drugs and medical devices.
Ms Harney said: "This Bill will put in place an essential part of the 21st century health service in Ireland."
