HIQA Health Information and Quality Authority Guide

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is an independent statutory body in Ireland with a mandate to set standards, inspect and review health and social care services, and advise on the safety and quality of those services. It develops evidence-based standards and guidance, carries out inspections and monitoring and publishes inspection findings alongside other reports to help drive improvement.

When people ask about the HIQA meaning, they usually want to know both the legal/regulatory role (the rules and inspections) and the practical role. This helps services deliver safer, more person-centred care. HIQA’s work covers public, private and voluntary providers and its materials (standards, guidance, inspection reports) are intended to be used by everyone involved in service delivery.

Many providers use these terms interchangeably, so it’s very useful to be explicit about how HIQA treats standards, guidelines and regulations.

Health Information and Quality Authority Standards

These are outcome-focused, evidence-based statements that describe what safe, quality care looks like. For example, the ‘National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare’ set outcomes across areas such as governance, staff competency, safety and person-centred care. These standards are used as the benchmark against which services are inspected.

HIQA Guidelines

Guidelines or guidance documents explain how to interpret or implement standards in practice. They often include lines of enquiry, recommended approaches and examples of good practice. HIQA publishes guides to inspections and topic-specific guidance so providers know how inspectors will assess compliance.

HIQA Regulations

These reflect the statutory or legal framework that gives HIQA its powers (for example, functions under the Health Act and associated legislation). Regulations determine what HIQA can require while giving legal weight to registration, inspection and enforcement activity. Providers need to understand both the standards and the regulatory obligations that sit behind them.

To summarise things and keep it simple, standards tell you the what (outcomes), guidance tells you the how (practical approaches), and regulations set the legal frame that requires compliance. 

There are two particularly important sets of HIQA standards for many providers that are worth calling out:

1. National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare 

We mentioned this briefly above, but these are the core standards used in healthcare inspections (hospital and community healthcare settings) and set expectations across leadership, safe care and quality improvement. HIQA’s inspection frameworks and reports map back to these standards when assessing services. If your service provides clinical care (even in community settings), these standards are fundamental.

2. National Standards for Information Management in Health and Social Care (2024)

Information handling is now a central inspection theme. These 2024 standards set out how health and social care services should collect, store, use and govern information to keep people safe and to support clinical and operational decision-making. They’re especially important for services adopting digital records, eMAR, telehealth or integrated care pathways.

Beyond these, HIQA continues to develop standards and guidance for social care, children’s services and sector-specific areas. Staying on top of newly published standards (HIQA publishes updates and new national standards periodically) is a key part of regulatory readiness. 

HIQA’s authority to inspect and regulate flows from primary legislation and statutory functions. The Health Act and related legislation underpin the HIQA’s remit to register, inspect and where necessary, take regulatory action against providers that don’t meet legal requirements. The organisation has both standards-setting and enforcement roles. It also publishes inspection findings and can require improvement actions.

Newer legislative and policy instruments (e.g. rules about notifiable incidents and open disclosure) are now part of the landscape that providers must factor into their governance arrangements. Importantly for residential and disability services, the Chief Inspector of Social Services within HIQA oversees registration and inspection for certain social care services, so providers should be familiar with social care-specific regulatory guidance in addition to the broader health standards. 

HIQA inspections are not all the same. Understanding the main types helps you prioritise preparation:

• Announced inspections – The service knows the inspection window in advance. Inspectors will visit and assess activity against the relevant standard(s).
• Unannounced inspections – Carried out without warning to observe day-to-day practice and compliance in real time.
• Targeted or thematic inspections – Focused on a specific risk area or topic (e.g. medication safety, information management or infection prevention).
• Monitoring inspections – Follow-up visits to check progress against required actions from previous inspections.

HIQA uses an assessment judgement framework and lines of enquiry mapped to the national standards. Inspectors gather evidence through interviews, observations, record review and sampling of care records. Inspection findings are then compiled into HIQA inspection reports that note areas of compliance, areas requiring improvement and any enforcement action or recommendations. These reports are public documents and are a primary way HIQA drives improvement across the sector.  

HIQA doesn’t mandate a single “checklist” for all services, but many providers find it helpful to build an internal HIQA inspection checklist that mirrors the national standards and inspection lines of enquiry. A practical checklist template should include, at a minimum:

• Governance and leadership – Up-to-date policies, risk registers and minutes that show oversight.
• Person-centred care – Individual care plans, consent records, care review dates.
• Medication safety – eMAR or paper MAR accuracy, storage and administration records.
• Staffing and training – Rotas, induction records, mandatory training compliance.
• Information management – Records governance, data protection practices, audit trails.
• Safeguarding and incident reporting – Notifiable incidents recorded and reviewed, open disclosure processes.

Use the HIQA inspection guides and relevant standards as the blueprint when you build or adapt your checklist. Working through the checklist as part of routine audit cycles makes inspections far less stressful and reduces the chance of last-minute non-compliance.

HIQA inspection reports are public and highly instructive. They typically contain: description of the service inspected, the standards or regulations applied, evidence collected, areas of compliance and non-compliance, and required actions with timeframes. Providers should read reports in their sector to understand commonly identified weaknesses and to adopt positive practices highlighted by inspectors.

A short, practical approach: review recent reports relevant to your service model quarterly, extract recurring themes (for example, record keeping or medication management), and map those themes into your quality improvement plan. HIQA’s published reports also show the language and evidence inspectors use – that’s useful when writing your own policies, audit evidence or management statements for inspection. 

If you want a priority list to act on, then you should focus on these areas (they are frequent themes in standards, guidance and reports):

1. Accurate, person-centred records – Care plans, risk assessments and reviews must be up to date and clearly linked to outcomes.
2. Robust governance and evidence of leadership oversight – Policies alone aren’t enough; inspectors look for recorded evidence that governance is enacted.
3. Information management and auditability – With the 2024 information standards, demonstrable control of data, access logs and secure recordkeeping are essential.
4. Staff competency – Up-to-date training, supervision records and clear induction processes.
5. Incident management – Timely reporting, learning cycles and open disclosure where required by law.

Addressing these systematically through regular audits, team briefings, and a rolling improvement plan is the best way to reduce risk and improve inspection outcomes. 

To summarise, understanding and adhering to HIQA's guidelines, regulations, and standards are fundamental for care providers aiming to deliver high-quality services. Preparation for HIQA inspections and awareness of common challenges can significantly impact compliance and service quality.

Digital tools can transform everyday compliance tasks from a burden into something far more manageable. For example, electronic care planning and eMAR provide accurate, time-stamped records that are easy to access. Rostering and staff management systems give instant evidence of safe staffing levels and training compliance. And with audit dashboards, managers can present inspection evidence in just seconds rather than spending hours pulling files together.

For care providers in Ireland looking to strengthen their approach to compliance, we at The Access Group offer Access Care Compliance. This intuitive software has been developed to support organisations in meeting HIQA standards with confidence. From managing audits and tracking action plans to recording incidents, complaints and staff training, it provides a clear, centralised view of your compliance activity.

By cutting down on manual paperwork and offering real-time oversight, Access Care Compliance makes preparing for HIQA inspections far less stressful, while ensuring you have the evidence you need ready at your fingertips.

By choosing Access Care Compliance, you’re not just keeping pace with regulation, you are also building a culture of transparency, accountability and continuous improvement. It’s a future-proof solution that helps you deliver safer, higher-quality care while staying aligned with both HIQA expectations and your organisation’s long-term goals. To learn more, watch our demo or get in touch with our team today and explore how Access Care Compliance can support your service.