Introduction
Nursing home compliance under HIQA isn’t just about ticking boxes. It’s about creating a culture of safety, consistency, and continuous improvement. Recent HIQA inspections continue to flag major issues around governance, staffing, training, records, and resident rights, with serious implications for care quality and regulatory risk.
HCI recently reviewed 25 HIQA inspection reports from June to September 2025 (published December 2025–January 2026) and found repeated patterns of non-compliance, particularly under:
- Regulation 23 (Governance and Management)
- Regulation 15 (Staffing)
- Regulation 16 (Training)
- Regulation 9 (Resident Rights)
- Regulation 17 (Premises)
- Regulation 18 (Food and Nutrition)
- Regulation 28 (Fire Precautions)
This blog unpacks key findings and shows how Cloda, the digital assistant, can help nursing homes respond proactively, strengthening everyday systems and making inspection readiness part of daily operations.
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When Governance Gaps Trigger Wider Non-Compliance
HIQA’s non-compliance findings show how quickly risk builds when core systems aren’t tight.
Governance and Management (Regulation 23)
HIQA non-compliance under Regulation 23 often points to weak audit systems that fail to identify real risk. Audits can look compliant on paper while there is significant misalignment between audit results and actual practice.
IPC audits failed to flag unsafe practices such as sluice room chemical preparation and storage trolleys in contaminated areas. This matters because governance is the control centre for resident safety.
Staffing, Training and Supervision (Regs 15 & 16)
Inspection findings frequently link non-compliance to insufficient staffing to meet resident’s needs. Inadequate numbers of HCAs and nurses resulted in long delays for care and short-term absences were not replaced. The result is variation in care quality and higher likelihood of incidents and regulatory escalation.
Further, staff were observed breaching IPC standards, such as not sanitising hands between residents, wearing gloves from one room into another and disposing of soiled continence wear in a communal bathroom bin.
Fire Precautions and Safety (Reg 28)
Fire safety findings are often serious because they test whether residents can be safely evacuated. Non-compliance can stem from unrealistic drills, poor evacuation planning, unclear signage, or incomplete personal emergency evacuation plans.
Evacuation drills were practiced for only 2-3 residents, not full compartments or homes. These drills were also performed with an unrealistic level of staff, alongside evacuation times being dangerously long.
Residents’ Rights and Premises Standards (Regs 9, 17, 18)
HIQA also highlights risks that directly affect residents lived experience. Under residents’ rights and premises-related regulations, inspectors cite dignity and privacy issues, limited meaningful activity, and poor environments. It was found that some homes had limited activities scheduled and that many residents spent long periods with little to no stimulation while some units received no activities at all.
Food and nutrition findings include rushed mealtimes or unsuitable dining experiences while it was also discovered that resident information was openly displayed in bedrooms. These issues signal a service under strain and lacking oversight.
The Compliance Challenge for Nursing Homes
Nursing homes are operating in an increasingly high-pressure compliance environment, shaped by evolving regulations, intensified scrutiny, and a growing focus on continuous quality improvement. With HIQA’s thematic inspections such as those focused on restrictive practices, safeguarding, and fire safety, services must demonstrate not just compliance, but a proactive approach to identifying, managing, and evidencing risk.
The regulatory landscape is becoming more dynamic, with recent updates to key frameworks such as SI98 of 2025 and the introduction of national guidance documents on communication, safeguarding, and protected disclosures. These changes demand stronger systems for policy implementation, training verification, audit accuracy, and real-time decision support.
Thematic and unannounced inspections further increase the pressure on providers to maintain high standards at all times, not just during scheduled reviews. But compliance isn’t just about passing an inspection on the day. It’s about keeping residents safe, delivering consistent, person-centred care, and reducing the risk of enforcement actions.
The strongest services embed governance and oversight into their daily operations, building systems that make best practice routine and ensure that evidence is clear, accessible, and inspection-ready at all times.
Introducing Cloda: A Smart Digital Assistant for Nursing Home Compliance
Cloda is a digital assistant built to support nursing home teams with practical, policy-aligned guidance. Staff can simply ask Cloda a question and she will provide the answer you need, directly from your approved procedures. She supports staff to deliver safer care, aligned with your best practice policies and procedures, and HIQA’s expectations. Because Cloda is mobile-friendly, staff can access her support instantly, when and where they need it. The aim is to reduce uncertainty and help teams act consistently.
Cloda helps translate HIQA regulations into day-to-day practice. As the regulatory landscape evolves with updates to standards, new thematic inspections, and revised national guidance, Cloda ensures staff are always working from the most current, organisation-approved policies and procedures. Her instant support allows staff to query information when required, helping confirm that their actions align with up-to-date regulatory expectations. With instant access to procedures, teams reduce variation in practice and improve consistency.
Cloda reinforces learning through comprehension checks, microlearning resources, and training refreshers, supporting ongoing compliance with mandatory training and making regulatory readiness part of everyday care. Cloda also supports multilingual teams by providing clear, accessible guidance in the language staff are most confident using, helping reduce misunderstandings and keep practice consistent.
How Cloda Helps Nursing Homes Address Key Non‑Compliance Risks
Governance & Management
Cloda strengthens governance by making it easier for staff to access and apply the best practice procedures your nursing home has invested in. This not only supports consistent decision-making but also reinforces the service’s commitment to quality and safety.
To go beyond simple acknowledgment, Cloda includes comprehension quizzes on procedures identified as critical by your organisation. These quizzes confirm staff understanding, helping reduce variation and demonstrating clear evidence of regulatory alignment. By embedding real-time guidance and validated learning into everyday practice, Cloda helps services build a stronger, more resilient governance culture, and reduces the last-minute scramble when inspections arise.
Training and Staff Development
Cloda and The Training Room reduce training-related compliance risk by ensuring all mandatory and role specific training is planned, assigned, completed, and evidenced without the usual chasing.
You can schedule training, assign requirements by job role and competency needs, and monitor completion rates in real time across teams. Automatic renewals help keep mandatory training requirements up to date. Learning is reinforced through micro-resources such as short videos and podcasts, plus policy comprehension quizzes check understanding, not just document acknowledgements, so staff can apply policies correctly in practice and you can evidence compliance with confidence.
Fire & Safety
Fire safety compliance depends on staff knowing exactly what to do and being able to access the correct procedures quickly. Cloda supports this with step-by-step access to your key protocols, such as evacuation procedures. This helps teams prepare more realistically, reduce variation in practice, and keep critical safety information accessible when it matters. It also supports clearer evidence of preparedness by keeping guidance and expectations easy to locate and apply.
Resident Rights & Care Standards
Cloda supports rights-based care by providing instant answers on rights obligations, dignity-focused guidance, and direct links to the relevant policies and procedures. This helps staff make consistent decisions in everyday moments, privacy, choice, communication, and respectful care, without having to search through lengthy documents. For managers, it strengthens oversight by making expectations clearer and supporting a more consistent standard of care across teams.
Conclusion
Nursing home compliance under HIQA is easiest to maintain when strong systems make safe practice consistent and easy to evidence. HCI’s review of recent inspection reports shows that repeated non-compliance often clusters around governance, staffing and training, records, fire safety, infection control, and residents’ rights, areas where small gaps quickly become bigger risks. The goal isn’t more paperwork; it’s clearer oversight, better day-to-day decision-making, and faster access to the right guidance. That’s exactly where Cloda supports nursing homes: turning policies and regulatory expectations into practical, real-time support for frontline and management teams, so inspection readiness becomes routine.
For more information or a demo of Cloda, contact info@cloda.ai or call 01 629 2559.
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