Written answer
Health Services
The Minister acknowledged that the Medical Council regulates individual practitioners, not clinics or multidisciplinary teams, but said broader oversight is provided by HIQA and other legislation. The proposed Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill would require licences for hospitals and certain high-risk community activities, strengthening safety oversight without replacing professional regulation.
3857. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Health if her Department is aware of the apparent regulatory gap whereby the Medical Council regulates individual medical practitioners but does not regulate clinics or multidisciplinary healthcare teams; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63190/26]
Comment on this
The Medical Council is the independent statutory regulator of registered medical practitioners under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007. Its functions include maintaining the register of medical practitioners, setting standards for medical education and training, and considering complaints relating to the professional conduct and performance of registered medical practitioners.
While the Medical Council does not regulate healthcare clinics or multidisciplinary teams as entities, the operation of healthcare services is subject to a broader regulatory and legislative framework.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) was established to be an independent authority to drive continuous improvement in Ireland’s health and social care services, and to monitor the safety and quality of those services. HIQA’s role includes setting standards on safety and quality in relation to health and social care services, monitoring compliance with these standards, undertaking investigations when necessary, assessing health technologies and setting health data and information standards.
My Department is also currently working on the Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill. The Licensing Bill will, for the first time, introduce a licensing requirement for all acute hospitals, public and private, and certain designated high-risk activities in the community.
It is important to note that licensing will not replace the system of professional regulation for clinicians. Instead, it will operate in parallel with the work of professional regulators, such as the Medical Council and will strengthen the overall regulatory oversight of the delivery of health services in Ireland.
The introduction of a system of licensing will ensure that all hospitals, public and private, are operating to appropriate standards and have the requisite governance arrangements in place, to enable the delivery of the safest possible service. This will be done by giving HIQA the power of sanction when conditions of a license are not met, up to or including the cancellation of a license which may result in closure as under the Licensing Bill, it will be an offence to operate a hospital without a license.
It is important to note that licensing legislation is intended to strengthen the current regulation of health services and will not duplicate existing controls. Services already regulated under other legislation are therefore excluded from the definitions of hospital and health service.
My Department continues to examine opportunities to strengthen oversight arrangements where appropriate in the interests of patient safety and quality of care.