The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is inviting caregivers, care providers, those who receive care in the home, as well as the wider public, to help inform the development of new draft National Standards for Home Support Services. 

HIQA has today launched a consultation process asking people to share their experiences and offer their views on aspects of care provision they believe these new standards should address. 

Currently there are no established national standards for home support services in Ireland. HIQA recognises the importance of quality, safe services and is developing these draft National Standards to complement the primary legislation and minimum requirements (regulations) being developed by the Government. 

Rachel Flynn, HIQA’s Director of Health Information and Standards, said: “We are holding a consultation early in the development process, to give people an opportunity to identify the key areas that the standards should address and to provide examples of good practice. 

“We would particularly like to hear from people using services and their families, as well as staff working in home support services. We will carefully assess all information received and use it, along with other available evidence, to develop the draft National Standards".

“The future demographic challenges of an aging population, trends towards increasingly complex care being provided in the home, and the need to focus on a human rights-based approach that facilitates autonomy and choice, underline the need for quality home support services".  

“A principle policy objective of ‘Sláintecare’, is to provide ‘the right care, in the right place, at the right time’, meaning people should have their care needs met in their own home for as long as is possible". 

“When developed, the draft National Standards for Home Support Services will enable a person-centred approach, by focusing on outcomes for people using home support services and placing them at the centre of all that the service does.”

Feedback on the development of the draft standards can be given by completing an online questionnaire or by downloading the feedback form on www.hiqa.ie and emailing it to standards@hiqa.ie 
The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday, 1 October 2021.

ENDS.
Further Information: 
Marty Whelan, Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement, HIQA
(01) 8147480 / 085 805 5202 / mwhelan@hiqa.ie

For further information on the consultation, please contact the consultation team at standards@hiqa.ie or call 01 814 7400 and ask to be contacted by a member of the Standards Team.

Notes to Editor:

• A brief for the consultation to inform the development of Draft National Standards for Home support Services can be found at www.hiqa.ie. The Programme for Government (2020) commits to the introduction of a statutory scheme to support people to live in their own homes, providing access to high-quality, regulated home care. This scheme is currently under development within the Department of Health. It is intended that the scheme will provide equitable access to high-quality services, based on a person’s assessed care-needs. 
• HIQA is developing these draft National Standards for Home Support Services to drive improvements in the provision of home support services, and complement the primary legislation and regulations being developed by Government. 
• In future, it is envisioned that HIQA will monitor home support providers against the regulations and national standards. 
• National standards are a set of high-level outcomes that describe how services can achieve safe, quality, person-centred care and support. They are evidence based and informed by engaging with those who use and provide health and social care services.
• Sláintecare is the government’s health and social care policy programme.