HIQA

HIQA An independent authority working to improve health and social care services for the people of Ireland

14/09/2026

Our Resident Forums Report 2025 highlights the voices of residents of services for people with disabilities and what they told us about their experiences, priorities and everyday lives.

Our series of forums were a valuable opportunity to meet residents outside of the formal inspection process. In these meetings, residents spoke openly about many issues relating to their daily lives and focused on:

- Residents’ rights

- Experience of HIQA inspections

- Suggestions for improvement

Residents highlighted the importance of meaningful relationships, independence, activities, communication, privacy, and feeling respected and listened to.

We strive to make sure that the voices of residents are at the heart of everything we do. A sincere thank you to all the residents who took part in the forums and generously shared their experiences, views and ideas. Their voices are central to this report and help us better understand what matters most to people using disability services.

Read the report on our website: https://www.hiqa.ie/reports-and-publications/key-reports-investigations/resident-forums-report-2025

Have your say on two draft national standards for safer, more connected healthcare in Ireland.HIQA is seeking your views...
09/09/2026

Have your say on two draft national standards for safer, more connected healthcare in Ireland.

HIQA is seeking your views on:
- the draft National Standard for a Patient Summary
- the draft National Standard for Electronic Prescriptions and Electronic Dispensations.

As healthcare becomes more digital, it is important that health information is recorded consistently so it can be understood and shared across different healthcare systems and services to support safe care and better outcomes for patients.
The draft National Patient Summary standard sets out the key information needed to provide an electronic a point-in-time summary of a patient’s critical health information.
The draft National Electronic Prescriptions and Electronic Dispensations standard sets out the information that should be recorded about medicines prescribed and dispensed to patients.

We particularly want to hear from clinicians, GPs and pharmacists who will use and rely on this information in their work.
We also welcome feedback from people who use health and social care services, families and carers, other health and social care professionals, advocates, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders.

The consultation is open until 5pm on Wednesday 21 October 2026.
All submissions will be reviewed and will help inform the final versions of both national standards.

Find out more and have your say on our website: https://www.hiqa.ie/hiqa-news-updates/hiqa-launches-public-consultation-two-health-information-standards-drive

We are delighted to be taking part in the Senior Times 50 Plus Show in Cork. At our pop-up stand today, we met with lots...
08/09/2026

We are delighted to be taking part in the Senior Times 50 Plus Show in Cork.

At our pop-up stand today, we met with lots of people from across the country and spoke with them about HIQA’s work in regulating nursing homes, answered their questions about our inspections and shared important information about national standards and advocacy in health and social care.

We will be back in Little Island tomorrow. Stop by our stand for a chat and to find out more about how HIQA supports better outcomes for older people across Ireland.

We look forward to meeting you!

📍 Radisson Blu Hotel, Cork
🕰️ 10am – 4pm Wednesday 9 September.

It is International Literacy Day 2026.Clear communication is vital in health and social care. 1 in 5 adults in Ireland h...
08/09/2026

It is International Literacy Day 2026.

Clear communication is vital in health and social care. 1 in 5 adults in Ireland has a literacy difficulty, and just over 1 in 4 have low health literacy. HIQA has developed plain language guidance to support good communication with people using services and their families. The guidance includes sections on health literacy and digital health literacy.

Learn more: https://www.hiqa.ie/reports-and-publications/guide/national-guidance-good-communication-health-and-social-care-using

Go to our Learning Hub, which also contains tools to help you use plain language, including a self-assessment checklist, examples of good practice and tips for designing forms: https://www.hiqa.ie/learning-hub

Preparations for implementing the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation are underway. HealthData@IE is Ireland's ...
04/09/2026

Preparations for implementing the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation are underway. HealthData@IE is Ireland's national project to help our health and social care sector prepare for changes in the access to and sharing of electronic health data.

HealthData@IE is led by Roinn Sláinte, Department of Health in collaboration with key organisations including HIQA, the Health Research Board and HSE Ireland. This national project aims to put in place the key building blocks to support the setting up of Health Data Access Body (HDAB) services in Ireland. HDAB services will safely connect policy-makers, health services planners and researchers with secure health datasets.

Explore the training tools and guidance available on our website that will support organisations to get ready and make Ireland's health data easier to find, trust, and use safely.
Swipe through to learn about the project!

Read more about this work on our website: https://www.hiqa.ie/areas-we-work/health-information/healthdataie

Dr Niamh O’Rourke, Deputy Director for National Standards for Health and Social Care, attended the launch event of the G...
03/09/2026

Dr Niamh O’Rourke, Deputy Director for National Standards for Health and Social Care, attended the launch event of the Gipuzkoa Agency for the Evaluation of Care and Social Policies, organised by the European Social Network.

Niamh took part in a panel discussion alongside experts from Belgium, Sweden and France, exploring how different countries set quality standards, assess and improve the quality of social care services.

The discussion covered what organisations evaluate, how evaluations are carried out and the results and achievements of this work. The four countries were chosen to showcase examples of quality in social care services, sharing approaches and learning from one another.

Niamh spoke about the most important lessons HIQA has learned from its experience in standards and evaluation and what advice it would give to a newly established quality and evaluation agency such as the one in Gipuzkoa.

Next week we will be at the Senior Times 50 Plus Show in Cork. Our team will be on hand to share information about HIQA’...
02/09/2026

Next week we will be at the Senior Times 50 Plus Show in Cork. Our team will be on hand to share information about HIQA’s work in regulating nursing homes and answer questions on our inspections and how to find information about a nursing home.

Stop by our stand for a chat and to find out more about how HIQA supports better outcomes for older people across Ireland. We look forward to meeting you!

📍 Radisson Blu Hotel, Cork
🕰️ 10am – 4pm on both days

We have started an assessment of cochlear implants for adults: https://www.hiqa.ie/reports-and-publications/health-techn...
01/09/2026

We have started an assessment of cochlear implants for adults: https://www.hiqa.ie/reports-and-publications/health-technology-assessment/cochlear-implants-adults-health-technology

Current funding for cochlear implants in adults is limited to one implant for those with severe-to-profound hearing loss in both ears, and doesn’t include adults with single-sided deafness.

We are going to be looking at the clinical and cost effectiveness of expanding the funding criteria, so that more adults with hearing loss could have the option of getting a cochlear implant.

31/08/2026

We continued our work to improve quality and safety across health and social care this August.

We welcomed residents and providers of disability services to our residents’ forum event in Carlow, where they shared their insights and experiences. We also announced reviews of national healthcare and older people’s care standards to ensure they remain up-to-date and person centred.

Watch our recap video to see some of the highlights and the impact of our work throughout August.

The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is an EU regulation that supports the secure sharing of digital health information...
26/08/2026

The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is an EU regulation that supports the secure sharing of digital health information across the European Union.

Once implemented, the EHDS aims to make it easier and safer for the public, and health and social care professionals to access and share health data across EU countries. It will also support researchers and public health experts to securely use health data to understand diseases, develop medicines, and improve healthcare systems within the EU.

HIQA is working with the Roinn Sláinte, Department of Health and key organisations including the Health Research Board and the HSE Ireland , to help the healthcare sector in Ireland prepare to meet its requirements under the EHDS.

Swipe to learn more about the EHDS and what it means for you!

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T12W7CV

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