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The HIQA-Readiness Checklist for Home Support Providers

A half-hour self-audit against the draft National Standards for Home Support Services and the draft regulations. For each line, mark one column: Have it (current, and you could put your hand on it today) · Scattered (exists, but across emails, spreadsheets and memory) · Missing. Anything not in the first column is your registration to-do list.

1 · Care plans

Have it Scattered Missing

Every current client has a written, person-centred care plan

Each plan records the client's needs AND how each is met

Each plan shows a review within the period your own policy promises

Plan changes show who changed what, and when

Clients (or their representatives) were involved in the plan — and that involvement is recorded

2 · Visit records

Have it Scattered Missing

I can show what visits were scheduled for any client, any week this year

I can show what was actually delivered against that schedule

Missed and late visits are recorded — with what we did about them

Visit records name the carer who attended

3 · Medication records

Have it Scattered Missing

Where we support medication, every administration is recorded: what, when, by whom

Refusals, omissions and errors are recorded and followed up in writing

Each carer supporting medication has current, dated training evidence

4 · Staff files

Have it Scattered Missing

Every carer has a file: recruitment record, references, contract

Garda vetting is on file for every staff member — with its date

Training certificates are on file with expiry dates (manual handling, safeguarding, medication…)

Something tells me before a vetting or certificate lapses — not after

Induction and supervision sessions are recorded, per person, with dates

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5 · Rotas

Have it Scattered Missing

I can produce the rota for any past week — who was scheduled, for whom

The rota matches the care plans (needs actually covered, not just hours filled)

Cover gaps and how they were resolved are visible, not just remembered

6 · Written policies — and proof they're read

Have it Scattered Missing

The draft regulations name a schedule of required policies. Tick each you hold as a current, dated document — then the harder question below.

Safeguarding & protection of vulnerable adults

Medication administration support

Infection prevention & control

Responsive behaviour management

Lone worker · Falls prevention · Moving & handling

Risk management · Health & safety

Complaints procedure

Recruitment & Garda vetting · Training, induction & supervision

Management of records · Data protection (GDPR)

Financial procedures (client money, fees, invoicing)

Incident reporting & notifiable events

Restrictive practices · Missed & late visits · Telecare/technology consent

For each policy: I can show which staff have read the current version

7 · Incidents & complaints

Have it Scattered Missing

Incidents are logged: what happened, actions taken, outcome

Complaints have their own record, with responses and timescales

I can show what changed after an incident — not just that it was noted

8 · Records management itself

Have it Scattered Missing

Care records live in ONE place, not across phones, inboxes and folders

Access is controlled — I know who can see client records, and could say who did

Retention periods are decided and written down

Records survive a lost phone, a leaver, or a broken laptop

If a client asked for their data — or asked us to erase it — we have a procedure

Scoring, honestly: there is no pass mark. Registration will ask for evidence in all eight areas; every Scattered is time, every Missing is a project. Do the Missing column first — records can't be backdated.

Checked against the DRAFT National Standards for Home Support Services (November 2024) and the draft regulations as of 26 July 2026. The final texts may differ — this is a self-audit aid, not a compliance guarantee, and not legal advice.

From Careloom — care software built in Ireland for independent home-care agencies · careloom.ie Page 2 of 2

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