Independent review into RQIA board resignations announced by Health Minister

An indepedent review into the resignation of Northern Ireland's health watchdog board members has been announced.

Nine board members have resigned from the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in recent days.

The RQIA is responsible for inspecting care homes across Northern Ireland, however inspections had been scaled back during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Health Minister Robin Swann confirmed that an investigation would take place during the Executive's press conference at Stormont on Tuesday.

The Health Minister said he is sorry it got to the point of resignations, adding his department "took decisions at pace in the teeth of a full-scale emergency".

"Similar decisions were taken in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland and there were reasons for those decisions," he said.

Mr Swann said he recognised the resignations "will have caused some concern", adding: "So today I'm announcing an independent review into exactly what happened."

The Commissioner for Older People, Eddie Lynch has described the resignations as a worrying development.

A statement issued on behalf of the former board members said they had been “left with no option but to resign”.

The statement claimed the Department of Health had made a number of “critical decisions” with no input from the board of RQIA, adding that “no information was made available in advance to explain the rationale for them”.

“Board members could not be expected to stand over significant decisions, taken in the name of the RQIA, when they played no part in the actual decision-making process,” the statement said.

According to the former board members, the decisions included:

  • issuing a departmental directive to reduce the minimum frequency of inspections in care homes as part of the response to Covid-19

  • repurposing the RQIA into a single point of contact and support for providers

  • redeploying at a critical time a number of RQIA’s executive and senior team

  • directing RQIA to make inspection staff available to work in the care home sector

The statement added: “In the Board’s view, these decisions diluted the RQIA’s independence and critical function as a regulator to maintain the protection of vulnerable adults in residential and nursing homes during the Covid-19 crisis.”

The former members further stated that the Department of Health had proposed replacing the Acting Chair with an interim Chair.

“Board members were not prepared to countenance this as they had full confidence in the Acting Chair of RQIA, who is held in the highest esteem for her professionalism and integrity,” the statement said.

“In the circumstances, the entire Board of RQIA was left with no option but to resign.”