The dignity and privacy of residents in some public nursing homes is being compromised because of the State's failure to comply with certain standards set out by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), it has been claimed.

Nursing homes currently provide care for almost 22,000 residents and employ over 24,000 staff. Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) is the representative organisation for private and voluntary nursing homes.

From July 1, all nursing homes will be expected to be compliant with HIQA National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People in respect of the Physical Environment Standards.

However, according to NHI chief executive, Tadhg Daly, the State has failed ‘over a six year period to address its requirements to comply with physical environment standards'.

He said that as a result, NHI is ‘concerned but regrettably not surprised' by a report which states that over 80 pubic nursing homes risk deregistration, or registration with major conditions attached, because of their failure to comply with these HIQA standards.

"Their deliberate ignoring of this impending issue has been reprehensible. The privacy and dignity of residents is being compromised by the HSE failing to comply with the HIQA Physical Environment Standards," Mr Daly insisted.

He pointed out that two years ago, the HSE publicly stated that €834 million would be required to maintain provision and address capacity issues.

"The challenges facing the public sector in meeting the July 2015 Physical Environment Standards have been well versed and long-standing. Short of a month before the deadline, the extent of the crisis in public nursing homes meeting the deadline that has been in place for six years is being further laid bare.

"This crisis has been fast coming down the track. It presents considerable, unwarranted uncertainty, worry and anxiety for thousands of older persons in HSE nursing homes," he commented.

Mr Daly said that NHI has been calling on the Department of Health for a number of years ‘not to bury its head in the sand and face up to the challenges of providing long-term residential care'.

"It is imperative a roadmap that brings together a framework that will enable providers meet the considerable challenges of growing requirement of long-term residential care provision is prioritised," he added.

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