The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has opened a public consultation on home care as part of developing new national standards for home support services. "We have an ageing population and there is an over-dependency on residential centres for older persons," said Rachel Flynn, Hiqa’s director of health information and standards and director of the National Care Experience Programme. The programme for government 2020 committed to a statutory scheme to support people to live in their own homes and to provide equitable access to high-quality, regulated home care. Currently an unregulated sector, Hiqa has launched a consultation process for caregivers, care providers, and those who receive care in the home to have their say in the development of new national standards for home support services. Clear processes will be established for people receiving care and their advocates to give feedback or make complaints where necessary.

Source: Irish Examiner September 10, 2021 20:37 UTC