How HIQA is working to improve health outcomes for all

Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) CEO Angela Fitzgerald sets out how HIQA regulates, sets standards, provides evidence to inform decision-making and uses its voice to advocate for change and improvement in service delivery in line with its Corporate Plan 2025-2027.

As the independent body to promote safety and quality in health and social care, HIQA aims to enable the best possible outcomes for all who use services.

HIQA’s remit and responsibilities have grown significantly since our establishment 18 years ago. Initially, we were charged with setting standards, monitoring public healthcare facilities, regulating nursing homes and providing evidence to support policy decisions within the wider health and social care landscape.

We have been trusted by successive governments and ministers to take on new functions, including regulating residential centres for people with disabilities and children’s special care. More recently we have been charged with regulating medical exposure to ionising radiation, inspecting designated international protection centres and monitoring private hospitals under the Patient Safety Act.

In line with recent EU Directives, HIQA has been designated the Competent Authority for assessing the preparedness of health and social care services to protect critical services against external shocks. We are working with government on a number of new priority areas including regulation of home support services and post-mortem practice, and the introduction of healthcare licensing.

Our rapid expansion over the past five years is exciting but also challenging. It demands that we constantly adapt and evolve, while maintaining our core focus of positively impacting on the population we serve.

Driving improvements in care

Within our new Corporate Plan, our priority is to promote and enhance the safety, dignity, and wellbeing of people across Irish health and social care. We use our powers, independent voice and experience to drive improvements in the quality of care and support delivered.

Our inspections seek to amplify good practice and identify where system and organisational changes are needed. Our function to conduct independent statutory reviews and investigations into patient safety issues has allowed us to enable system and policy changes that support improvements at national level. Our recent review of the governance of implantable medical devices at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), including the use of non-CE marked springs in surgery, made key recommendations for both CHI and healthcare services nationally on corporate and clinical governance, management and oversight of clinical practice to ensure that new interventions are introduced and overseen safely and effectively.

“Our rapid expansion over the past five years is exciting but also challenging. It demands that we constantly adapt and evolve, while maintaining our core focus of positively impacting on the population we serve.”

Similarly, the Review to inform decision-making on the design and delivery of urgent and emergency healthcare services in the HSE Mid-West health region sets out advice for government to consider in terms of delivering safe and effective services for the region on a sustainable basis. We used our evidence synthesis experience to critically assess the best available evidence on addressing patient safety and capacity issues. Our regulatory lens allowed us to provide an independent and objective view to the advice, as we understand what is required to ensure services consistently deliver excellent standards of care and the best possible outcomes for the people of the mid-west.

This review encompassed wide engagement with stakeholders, receiving over 1,100 responses from patients and families, healthcare professionals and others sharing their experiences of healthcare services in the region. Their feedback informed our approach and findings.

In everything we do, it is vital that the voices of the public and service users are heard and reflected. Public and patient involvement is a crucial component of our work to ensure that we always consider what matters to them in shaping our advice to government.

Looking forward

In terms of shaping the future direction of health and social services, it is important to consider international developments, particularly at EU level.

We represent the Irish health sector at European level to prepare for the European Health Data Space Regulation, a major health information initiative across the EU. In collaboration with the HSE, Department of Health, Health Research Board, and others, we are coordinating programmes of work to support the establishment of a health data access body service in Ireland. This will facilitate wider secondary use of data and provide secure access to data to support research, innovation, education, training, policymaking and service management.

Similarly, we work with European counterparts to support the implementation of the EU Health Technology Assessment Regulation and ensure a coordinated approach to the development of evidence-informed health policy.

Last year presented challenges for HIQA as a regulator. We are committed to be a learning organisation, reviewing our practices and adapting how we work to ensure we continue to have an impact. We are working closely with ministers and the Department to look at areas where the regulatory and policy framework can be strengthened.

Everyone working at HIQA is driven by our shared mission to deliver the best outcomes for all who use health and social care services. Our new Corporate Plan is ambitious in its focus, and sets out six clear outcomes for us to achieve. It also sets out the key enablers needed for us to achieve better outcomes for people using services with strategic organisational structure, technology, and our people.

Our People and Culture Strategy will support our people to achieve their potential within a positive organisational culture, while our Digital Strategy will enable us to take on new functions, optimise our research capabilities and have real-time access to data and analytics to inform our regulatory approach. These are vital to ensuring we continue to make a positive impact.

T: 021 240 9300
E: info@hiqa.ie
W: www.hiqa.ie