Inspection

Inspection of social care services

We regulate and inspect social care centres in order to protect vulnerable people of all ages who are receiving residential care services and to ensure that these people are receiving an appropriate standard and quality of service.

Inspection of residential services for older people

We inspect residential centres for older people to gather evidence on which to make judgments on the quality of the service. We must:

• Ensure that providers are complying with the requirements and conditions of their registration and meet our standards.
• Ensure that providers have systems in place to safeguard the welfare of residents.
• Provide information and evidence of both good and poor practice.

Inspection aims to promote the improvement of health and social care services in Ireland and enables the provider to self-assess the quality of his/her service. Inspection also encourages the provider to strive towards excellence in service delivery.

Inspection reports guide members of the public in choosing centres on the basis of sound, unbiased evidence, as all our inspection reports are published without fear or favour on our website. Inspection reports also assure the public on standards of care in centres.

We have produced a guide, which outlines the inspection process and explains what those involved in the provision of services can expect before, during and after an inspection. Download this guide, entitled ‘Are you ready for your Inspection?’.

Further Guidance on registration and inspection of designated centres

We have produced a series of guides which provide all the information you need on the processes of registration and inspection of designated centres, which are available to download from our information for providers section.