HIQA, the agency which monitors the safety and quality of both the healthcare and social care systems in Ireland, has published an assessment framework for nursing homes in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak.
It's a self-assessment checklist aimed at owners and managers in the sector. Next week, inspectors will visit homes which are not affected by Covid-19 to ensure that they are complying.
So how will it work? How many inspectors will be deployed? In the initial phase, HIQA expects about 35 inspectors to be involved in the inspection process. What is the purpose of the inspections? The plan is to focus on those nursing homes which do not have an outbreak of Covid-19 to ensure that they are prepared in the event of an outbreak and have