Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990
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Registration of nursing homes. |
4.—(1) Each health board shall establish and maintain a register of nursing homes in its functional area (referred to subsequently in this Act as “a register”). | |
(2) (a) There shall be entered in a register in respect of each nursing home registered therein the name of the person by whom it is carried on, the name of the person who is in charge of it, the address of the premises in which it is carried on, a statement of the number of patients who can be accommodated in the home, the date on which the registration is to take effect (referred to subsequently in this section as “the date of registration”) and such other (if any) particulars as may be prescribed. | ||
(b) A register maintained under this section shall be made available for inspection free of charge by members of the public at all reasonable times. | ||
(3) (a) A health board may, on application to it in that behalf by a person who proposes to carry on a nursing home in its functional area, register or refuse to register the home. | ||
(b) Subject to the provisions of this section, the period of a registration shall be 3 years from the date of registration. | ||
(c) Where a health board registers a nursing home, it shall issue to the registered proprietor thereof a certificate of registration in the prescribed form. | ||
(4) (a) A person who proposes to carry on a nursing home may, before making an application under subsection (3) for the registration of the home, apply to the health board in whose functional area the home will be situated for a declaration by it that he is a suitable person to carry on a nursing home and, if he does so and pays the prescribed fee to the board, the board shall, unless the person has been convicted of an offence under this Act or the Act of 1964 or of any other offence that is such as to render the person unfit to carry on a nursing home, give to the person a statement by it in writing declaring that he is a suitable person to carry on a nursing home. | ||
(b) An application to a health board for registration made by a person to whom a declaration under paragraph (a) has been given by the board shall not be refused for a reason specified in subparagraph (ii) of subsection (6) (b) and relating to the person unless the person has been convicted of an offence specified in the said subparagraph after the making of the application for the declaration and the board was not aware of the conviction when it gave the declaration. | ||
(c) A health board may refuse to give a declaration under paragraph (a) to a person who fails or refuses to furnish the board with information requested by it pursuant to subsection (10) in relation to the application for the declaration and may refuse to give a declaration, or may revoke a declaration given, to a person who, in relation to the application, has furnished the board with information that is false or misleading in a material particular. | ||
(5) A health board may remove a nursing home from the register. | ||
(6) A health board shall not— | ||
(a) refuse to register a nursing home in relation to which an application for its registration has been duly made, or | ||
(b) remove a nursing home from the register, | ||
unless— | ||
(i) it is of opinion that— | ||
(I) the premises to which the application or, as the case may be, the registration relates do not comply with the regulations, or | ||
(II) the carrying on of the home will not be or is not in compliance with the regulations, | ||
(ii) the applicant or the registered proprietor, as the case may be, or the person in charge or, as the case may be, proposed to be in charge of the home has been convicted of an offence under this Act or the Act of 1964 or of any other offence that is such as to render the person unfit to carry on or, as the case may be, to be in charge of the home, or | ||
(iii) the applicant or the registered proprietor, as the case may be, has failed or refused to furnish the board with information requested by it pursuant to subsection (10) or has furnished the board with information that is false or misleading in a material particular, or | ||
(iv) the registered proprietor has, not more than one year before the date from which the registration or removal from the register would take effect, contravened a condition under subsection (8). | ||
(7) (a) A health board may refrain from registering a nursing home in relation to which an application for its registration has been duly made until the prescribed fee in respect of the application has been paid to the board. | ||
(b) A health board may refrain from giving a declaration under subsection (4) until the prescribed fee in respect of the application has been paid to the board. | ||
(8) (a) A health board may— | ||
(i) at the time of registration or subsequently attach to the registration conditions in relation to the carrying on of the nursing home concerned and such other matters as it considers appropriate having regard to its functions under this Act, | ||
(ii) attach different conditions to the registration of different nursing homes, and | ||
(iii) amend or revoke a condition of registration. | ||
(b) Conditions imposed under this subsection or amendments and revocations under this subsection shall be stated in the certificate of registration concerned or notified in writing to the registered proprietor of the nursing home concerned. | ||
(9) An application for registration or for a declaration under subsection (4) shall be in the prescribed form or in a form to the like effect and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee. | ||
(10) (a) A health board may request an applicant for registration or, as the case may be, a registered proprietor or an applicant for a declaration under subsection (4) to furnish it with such information as it considers necessary for the purposes of its functions under this Act. | ||
(b) A person who, whether in pursuance of a request or otherwise, furnishes information to a health board for the purposes of this Act that is false or misleading in a material particular shall be guilty of an offence unless he shows that, at the time the information was furnished to the board he was not aware that it was false or misleading in a material particular. | ||
(11) The registered proprietor of a nursing home who proposes to carry on the home immediately after the expiration of the period of registration of the home may apply under subsection (3) to the health board concerned not less than 2 months before such expiration for the registration of the home and, if the board does not notify him before such expiration that it proposes to refuse to register the home, it shall register the home and its date of registration shall be the day following the day of such expiration. | ||
(12) (a) Where a registered nursing home commences to be carried on by a person other than the registered proprietor— | ||
(i) the home shall thereupon cease to be registered, | ||
(ii) the person shall (if he has not done so before such commencement) apply not later than 4 weeks after it, to the health board concerned for the registration of the home, and, if the application is granted, the date of registration of the home shall be that of the day following the day of the cesser aforesaid, | ||
(iii) if the application aforesaid is duly made, and is not refused then, during the period from the commencement aforesaid until the home is registered it shall be deemed, for the purposes of section 3 , to be registered and there shall be deemed to be attached to the registration any conditions attached to the previous registration. | ||
(b) A person who contravenes paragraph (a) (ii) shall be guilty of an offence. | ||
(13) (a) Where a health board proposes to refuse to register a nursing home, to refuse to give a declaration under subsection (4), to revoke such a declaration, to remove a nursing home from the register, to attach a condition to, or amend or revoke a condition attached to, a registration, it shall notify in writing the applicant or the registered proprietor, as the case may be, of its proposal and of the reasons for it. | ||
(b) A person who has been notified of a proposal under paragraph (a) may, within 21 days of the receipt of the notification, make representations in writing to the health board, concerned and the board shall— | ||
(i) before deciding the matter, take into consideration any representations duly made to it under this paragraph in relation to the proposal, and | ||
(ii) notify the person in writing of its decision and of the reasons for it. | ||
(14) A notification of a proposal of a health board under subsection (13) shall include a statement that the person concerned may make representations to the board within 21 days of the receipt by him of the notification and a notification of a decision of a health board under subsection (13) shall include a statement that the person concerned may appeal to the District Court under section 5 against the decision within 21 days from the receipt by him of the notification. | ||
(15) Where, in relation to a nursing home, there is a contravention of a condition of registration, the registered proprietor and the person in charge of the home shall be guilty of an offence. |