Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter. 

As a regulator, we are committed to continuous learning and improvement, and we welcome every opportunity to review and strengthen our regulatory approach. By doing so we can ensure that we are responding not only to sectoral or policy changes, but we are also challenging ourselves to maintain our focus on what really matters to those using health and social services

This month, by agreement with the Minister for Health and Minister of State with responsibility for Older People, we published an independent review of our regulatory process into nursing homes. The review was requested by the Minister of State with responsibility for Older People following concerns raised about nursing homes operated by Emeis Ireland. It was carried out by independent auditors Forvis Mazars. We welcome the review which found that, overall, our Chief Inspector of Social Services’ regulatory and inspection processes are effective, and that inspections are carried out in a fair and proportionate manner. We also acknowledge the areas for improvement highlighted in the review. We will seek to strengthen how we assess the culture and staff behaviour of a centre during our inspections and its impact on residents’ lived experiences within nursing homes. We will redouble our efforts to focus on those areas that matter most to residents and their families. The review also highlighted the need for regulatory reform in key areas to reflect the changing operating landscape within the sector, including measures to ensure that parent companies and wider nursing home groups can be held appropriately to account.

The review is an important piece of work for us as an organisation and for the public, as it independently confirms the effectiveness of our regulatory approach, providing reassurance to residents, their families and the wider public that our processes to safeguard people living in nursing homes are working and that there is strong regulatory oversight of nursing homes in place.

We are committed to fully implementing the recommendations to ensure we are enabling safe and effective care by providers in residential settings. In this context, we are continuing to engage with the Minister for Heath and the Minister of State with responsibility for Older People on the priority areas for improvement in the regulatory framework and on the development of a comprehensive plan to support the full implementation of the recommendations.

This issue also features our Annual Report 2025 which we published in June. As the first Annual Report aligned with our Corporate Plan 2025–2027, it seeks to reflect our overall commitment to enabling better outcomes for people using health and social services. The 2025 Annual Report is structured around the four key outcomes in the Corporate Plan and sets out the impact of our core work across our standard setting, regulation and monitoring, and providing evidence-informed advice functions. The report highlights the impact of regulation such as the review of the use of springs in surgery in Children’s Health Ireland in terms of enabling real improvements in the systems and processes to support safety and quality in service delivery, and how our work seeks to inform policy and decision-making at national level, such as our advice on the delivery of urgent and emergency care in the HSE Mid West region. 

The Annual Report amplifies the depth and breadth of the planned expansion of our legal remit and details the work we did last year to prepare for this, including: the expansion of the Chief Inspector’s remit to investigate individual events; the forthcoming licensing of public and private healthcare facilities; and the development of regulations which will give us regulatory and enforcement powers in certain elements of post-mortem activities. This work is continuing this year. For example, with the recent signing of the Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Act 2025 by the President, we are now focused on accelerating our internal preparedness for this new legislation. The EU Critical Entities Resilience Directive helps ensure that the services society depends on every day can continue to operate during crises, disruptions, or attacks, and our work in this area is well advanced. We are working very closely with an Expert Advisory Group to ensure that we are ready and well positioned to commence our role as Competent Authority for the specific aspects of the Irish health service as designed under the Directive. We also continue to work closely with the Department of Health and the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration in preparing for the implementation of the Network and Information Security Directive (NIS-2) and on our potential role in this area. Together, both these Directives will assist in protecting the State’s infrastructure against potential external shocks or threats with interagency collaboration vital in bringing regulators, Government departments and other authorities together to strengthen the resilience and continuity of our essential services. 

We welcome this period of change and opportunity for the organisation, which is only possible through three key enablers: firstly, our people whose commitment and expertise keep us focused on our mission every day; secondly, our smart use of technology which helps us meet these new responsibilities while continuing to delivery high-quality outcomes; and thirdly, our strong relationships with stakeholders, which support effective collaboration and engagement.

Effective engagement with key stakeholders across the health and social care system is fundamental to our work and strong collaboration underpins everything we do. Given the organisational change described above, we will be working with a wider range of stakeholders so it is essential that we can establish good working relationships. By working together and navigating challenges collectively, we can better respond to a complex and evolving system, ensuring that our work remains effective and relevant. 

One example of this close collaboration is the National Care Experience Programme which is a is a joint initiative between HIQA, the HSE, the Department of Health and the Mental Health Commission. The National Inpatient Experience Survey is currently underway, giving patients a vital voice in shaping improvements in hospital care. The insights into the experiences of care given by patients are help identify where improvements are needed, and we as partners all work together to effect change based on patient feedback to improve the quality of care provided to people in Ireland.

In this issue we highlight a number of important public consultations currently underway. We are holding a public consultation to get feedback on updated draft national standards for residential disability services, which aim to strengthen a rights-based, person-centred approach to care. We have also launched a public consultation to find out what people think about the COVID-19 vaccination, and the feedback will help us provide advice to the Minister for Health and the HSE on the vaccination programme for 2027-28. Details on how to take part in both consultations are included in this newsletter.

Our health technology assessment and evidence synthesis work continues to support informed policy decision-making, with new evidence to inform Ireland’s low-risk alcohol guidelines. Many of you will have heard about this recently published research which attracted significant media focus. This research highlights the clear link between alcohol use and poorer health outcomes and will support updated guidance to help people make informed choices about their health. We have also published research exploring whether the shingles vaccination may be linked to lower dementia risk, contributing to growing international evidence in this area. Our findings highlight the need for further research and will contribute towards supporting evidence‑based public health decisions.

We continue to support the implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation in Ireland, which will help to empower people in Ireland to take control of their own health data and make it easier to access and exchange health data across Member States. When implemented, this will have enormous benefits for the population of Ireland and increase safety within healthcare services. This issue features an update on recent progress we have made on developing a new National Health Dataset Catalogue for Ireland, which is a key step in improving how health data can be accessed and used to support better decision-making.

I hope you enjoy reading about our work.

Best wishes,

Angela