From Department of Health
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Consultation is closed
The Minister for Mental Health and Older People Mary Butler has launched a public consultation on new design standards for long-term residential care settings for older people (public, private, and voluntary).
The government’s strategic goal is to deliver a new model of integrated health and social care services, across the care continuum, supporting older people to remain living independently in their own homes and communities for longer.
It is recognised that nursing home care will continue to be an important part of this continuum of care into the future. For those who avail of long-term residential care, it is critical that this care is provided in settings that can meet infection prevention and control requirements and provide an appropriate home for residents who need this type of care.
The purpose of the design guide is to articulate best practice in design for long-term residential care settings for older people and to provide a common benchmark against which the standard of these settings can be measured, without limiting innovation. High-quality design, planning, and construction is vital in creating safe environments that enable high quality care.
The guide seeks to balance the need for people to live well, maintain relationships with family and friends, and exercise autonomy and control, with other considerations, including infection prevention and control (IPC).
The design guide provides guidance for those:
The design guide should be used to guide applications to the Chief Inspector within the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to register a new designated centre for older people or vary an existing registration of such a centre. It will also be used in the context of the new HIQA pre-application registration advice process, as outlined in the guide.
The Department of Health, in conjunction with the HSE and HIQA, plans to publish a Design Guide for Long-Term Residential Care Settings for Older People and is seeking the views of the public on the draft version.
The public consultation will allow the Department of Health to hear the views of a wide range of stakeholders and the findings will inform the final version of the design guide.
A draft version of the Design Guide for Long-Term Residential Care Settings for Older People is available to read below.
In order to participate in the consultation and provide feedback, please click on one of the links below. You will be redirected to the EUSurvey site where you will be given further instructions. There are two versions of the survey, one for individuals, and one for organisations.
We are asking individuals to participate in the public consultation by completing the online survey.
We are asking organisations/representative bodies to participate in the public consultation by completing the online survey.
The closing date for the public consultation is 5pm on 15 February 2024. It will not be possible to access the online questionnaire after this time.
Consultation is now closed.
The survey for individuals is anonymous.
The survey for organisations/representative bodies requires the name and role of the person authorised to complete the survey on behalf of the organisation/representative body.
All submissions will be retained until such time as they are appraised by the National Archives to determine whether they warrant permanent retention as archives in accordance with the department’s obligations under the terms of the National Archives Act, 1986.
Any personal information which you volunteer to this public consultation will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, strictly in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/67 and the Data Protection Act 2018.
By providing a submission to this consultation, you are consenting to your data being processed by the Department of Health. Your data will only be used in the context of the Design Guide for Long-Term Residential Care Settings for Older People, and for no other purpose.
All submissions and survey answers are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and are also subject to Data Protection legislation. Personal, confidential, or commercially sensitive information will be redacted prior to release.
If you have any queries, please email: older_persons_strategy_unit@health.gov.ie
