The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has published an overview report of the inspection and regulation of children’s services in 2022.

HIQA conducted 54 inspections throughout the year, and found improved levels of compliance against national standards and regulations in children’s services. Though HIQA found overall improved levels of compliance against national standards, areas requiring further improvements were also identified. The appropriate resourcing of Tusla’s services remains a challenge, not only in terms of staff vacancies but also the insufficient availability of appropriate alternative care placements for children. This impacted on the timeliness and quality of service provided to some children. These challenges experienced by Tusla require a collaborative national strategic approach to ensure that Tusla is resourced and enabled to ensure children receive the right support and service at the right time.

During 2022, inspectors found instances of good practice by staff across children’s services. Staff routinely advocated on behalf of children and young people and encouraged them to participate in decision-making about their support and care plans. Children and young people were also regularly consulted by social work and social care staff during assessments and in their day-to-day lives. 

Hearing the voices and experiences of children and young people is always at the centre of all inspection activity carried out by HIQA. Children and young people offer unique insights about the quality of services and it is crucial to listen to them. A children’s version of this overview report has also been published today which provides a summary of inspection findings specifically for children and young people. This version explains the inspection process and allows children and young people to read how their views and experience of services were heard by inspectors.

One hundred and eighty children met with or provided their views to inspectors and the majority were positive about the service they received. Some key messages from young people and children included that: they felt safe, well cared for and supported; they felt welcomed and involved in their care placements; and their understood their rights and had exercised their rights. One child spoke very positively about the staff that cared for them, saying “If I am upset I can go to any of the staff, they listen and understand”. Another child was complimentary about the service they received: “I’ve been very lucky, I’ve had a really good experience”. 

Inspectors also spoke with parents and foster carers about their experiences. The majority of parents across services spoke positively about the care and support given to their children. However, some parents and foster carers raised the impact that frequent changes in social workers had on children.

Eva Boyle, HIQA’s Head of Children’s Services, said: “Throughout 2022, we continued to actively promote and reflect the voice of children and young people in our work. We listened to what children and young people had to say about the services they received, and these views are captured in our children’s version of this overview report. Children and young people using services generally spoke positively about their experiences of services and said they felt safe, well cared for and supported. However, long-standing staffing challenges experienced by Tusla require significant improvement to ensure that all children and young people receive the right service at the right time”.

HIQA will continue to listen to what children and young people have to say about the services they receive. In 2023, we will ask children in statutory residential care and Oberstown Children Detention Campus about what feedback they want after inspections and, by the end of 2023, we will incorporate this into how we provide feedback on our inspections to children.

Read the full report at www.hiqa.ie. 

For further information please contact:

Marty Whelan, Head of Communications & Stakeholder Engagement
085 805 5202, mwhelan@hiqa.ie 

Notes to the editor:

• Under the Health Act 2007 (as amended), HIQA is responsible for regulating and monitoring the safety and quality of children’s social services in Ireland to ensure they meet national standards and relevant regulations. 
• During 2022, HIQA conducted 54 inspections of children’s services, including:
  • 20 inspections of statutory children’s residential centres
  • 10 inspections of child protection and welfare services
  • nine inspections of statutory foster care
  • six child care regulation inspections
  • five special care unit inspections
  • two inspections of private foster care services
  • one service area inspections (incorporating both child protection and foster care services)
  • one inspection of Oberstown Children Detention Campus.