For hospitals, clinics and health services in Ireland
HIQA compliance software for Irish hospitals and clinics, built to help you achieve a compliant inspection.
wai runs booking, clinical notes, patient messaging, payments and records for Ireland's clinics, private hospitals and health services, and keeps each of them as evidence a HIQA inspector can read against the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare. Notes are signed during the visit, every enquiry is answered on one record, and every action is logged to a name, which is how wai is built to help you achieve a compliant HIQA inspection.
What does HIQA ask of a hospital or health service in 2026?
The National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare set out 45 standards in eight themes, and HIQA monitors services against them.
45 national standards in eight themes, across two dimensions, capacity and capability, and quality and safety. Open a theme for its standards.1
01Person-centred care and supportServices are planned around what people need, respect their rights and dignity, obtain informed consent and answer complaints openly.9 standards
1.1 The planning, design and delivery of services are informed by service users' identified needs and preferences.
1.2 Service users have equitable access to healthcare services based on their assessed needs.
1.3 Service users experience healthcare which respects their diversity and protects their rights.
1.4 Service users are enabled to participate in making informed decisions about their care.
1.5 Service users' informed consent to care and treatment is obtained in accordance with legislation and best available evidence.
1.6 Service users' dignity, privacy and autonomy are respected and promoted.
1.7 Service providers promote a culture of kindness, consideration and respect.
1.8 Service users' complaints and concerns are responded to promptly, openly and effectively with clear communication and support provided throughout this process.
1.9 Service users are supported in maintaining and improving their own health and wellbeing.
02Effective care and supportCare reflects the best evidence, is planned for each person, is coordinated between services and is monitored for what it achieves.8 standards
2.1 Healthcare reflects national and international evidence of what is known to achieve best outcomes for service users.
2.2 Care is planned and delivered to meet the individual service user's initial and ongoing assessed healthcare needs, while taking account of the needs of other service users.
2.3 Service users receive integrated care which is coordinated effectively within and between services.
2.4 An identified healthcare professional has overall responsibility and accountability for a service user's care during an episode of care.
2.5 All information necessary to support the provision of effective care, including information provided by the service user, is available at the point of clinical decision making.
2.6 Care is provided through a model of service designed to deliver high quality, safe and reliable healthcare.
2.7 Healthcare is provided in a physical environment which supports the delivery of high quality, safe, reliable care and protects the health and welfare of service users.
2.8 The effectiveness of healthcare is systematically monitored, evaluated and continuously improved.
03Safe care and supportServices protect people from harm, learn from incidents, report patient-safety incidents and tell patients openly when something goes wrong.7 standards
3.1 Service providers protect service users from the risk of harm associated with the design and delivery of healthcare services.
3.2 Service providers monitor and learn from information relevant to the provision of safe services and actively promote learning both internally and externally.
3.3 Service providers effectively identify, manage, respond to and report on patient-safety incidents.
3.4 Service providers ensure all reasonable measures are taken to protect service users from abuse.
3.5 Service providers fully and openly inform and support service users as soon as possible after an adverse event affecting them has occurred, or becomes known, and continue to provide information and support as needed.
3.6 Service providers actively support and promote the safety of service users as part of a wider culture of quality and safety.
3.7 Service providers implement, evaluate and publicly report on a structured patient-safety improvement programme.
05Leadership, governance and managementClear accountability, formal governance, a public statement of purpose and systematic monitoring of quality and safety.11 standards
5.1 Service providers have clear accountability arrangements to achieve the delivery of high quality, safe and reliable healthcare.
5.2 Service providers have formalised governance arrangements for assuring the delivery of high quality, safe and reliable healthcare.
5.3 Service providers maintain a publicly available statement of purpose that accurately describes the services provided, including how and where they are provided.
5.4 Service providers set clear objectives and develop a clear plan for delivering high quality, safe and reliable healthcare services.
5.5 Service providers have effective management arrangements to support and promote the delivery of high quality, safe and reliable healthcare services.
5.6 Leaders at all levels promote and strengthen a culture of quality and safety throughout the service.
5.7 Members of the workforce at all levels are enabled to exercise their personal and professional responsibility for the quality and safety of services provided.
5.8 Service providers have systematic monitoring arrangements for identifying and acting on opportunities to continually improve the quality, safety and reliability of healthcare services.
5.9 The quality and safety of services provided on behalf of healthcare service providers are monitored through formalised agreements.
5.10 The conduct and provision of healthcare services are compliant with relevant Irish and European legislation.
5.11 Service providers act on standards and alerts, and take into account recommendations and guidance, as formally issued by relevant regulatory bodies as they apply to their service.
07Use of resourcesResources are planned and used to get the best quality and safety for the money spent.2 standards
7.1 Service providers plan and manage the use of resources to deliver high quality, safe and reliable healthcare efficiently and sustainably.
7.2 Service providers have arrangements in place to achieve best possible quality and safety outcomes for service users for the money and resources used.
Non-compliantNot met, a significant risk to people
116
public and private healthcare services sit under HIQA's monitoring remit, after the Patient Safety Act added 23 private hospitals.4
60
inspections of healthcare services by HIQA in 2025, including emergency departments, private hospitals and community healthcare.5
41%
of the national standards HIQA reassessed on re-inspection in 2024 showed improvement.4
Standard monitoring is two inspections in each three-year cycle, one announced with 10 working days' notice and one unannounced.
HIQA aims to issue the draft report within 30 working days, and the provider returns factual accuracy feedback and a signed compliance plan within 21 calendar days.
An urgent risk found on the day brings a request for a response within 24 hours of the inspection ending.
The final report and the provider's compliance plan are published on hiqa.ie, with five working days' notice.
What is in force in Ireland, and what is still proposed?
Three things a hospital or clinic should know on 16 October 2026.
The Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 is in force, commenced on 26 September 2024. It extended HIQA's monitoring to private hospitals, and private and public providers, private clinics included, must notify HIQA of a notifiable incident within seven days.
Licensing is proposed and is not yet law. The Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill, whose general scheme Government approved in December 2017, would require a licence for every public and private hospital and for certain potentially high-risk activities, with HIQA as the licensing authority. HIQA describes it as being progressed by the Department of Health, and no licensing Bill is before the Oireachtas today.6
The Mental Health Act 2026 was signed on 7 May 2026 and has not commenced. It provides registers for acute mental health centres, community mental health centres and community mental health services. Until it is commenced, approved centres stay under the Mental Health Act 2001.
The Mental Health Commission and approved centres
Inpatient mental health care in Ireland sits with a second regulator, under the Mental Health Act 2001.
Every hospital or inpatient unit led by a consultant psychiatrist whose main role is the care and treatment of people with a mental illness or disorder must be registered by the Mental Health Commission as an approved centre. Operating one unregistered is an offence.7
Registration lasts three years. Applications go through the Commission's Comprehensive Information System, and a renewal is due no later than two months before the current registration expires.
The Inspector of Mental Health Services inspects every approved centre at least once a year against the regulations, Rules, Codes of Practice and Part 4 of the Act, and assesses quality against the Judgement Support Framework 2026.
Each area is judged compliant or non-compliant, and a non-compliance is risk-rated low, moderate, high or critical. The centre answers each one with a corrective and preventative action plan that is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.
In 2025 the Commission inspected all 67 registered approved centres, according to its Annual Report 2025. Average compliance with all legal requirements was 84.35%, and seven centres were fully compliant with every Regulation, Rule and Code of Practice.
The instruments a hospital or clinic in Ireland works under, and their status on 16 October 2026.8
Instrument
Status
What it means
National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare, Version 2 (2024)
In operation since 26 September 2024
The standards HIQA monitors public and private hospitals against
Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023
Commenced 26 September 2024
Notifiable incidents reported within seven days, and mandatory open disclosure
Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill
Not law, no Bill before the Oireachtas
Would license every hospital and certain high-risk activities, with HIQA as licensing authority
Mental Health Act 2001 and the Approved Centres Regulations 2006
In force
Registration and annual inspection of approved centres by the Mental Health Commission
Mental Health Act 2026
Enacted 7 May 2026, not commenced
New registers for acute and community mental health services, once commenced
S.I. 256 of 2018, medical exposure to ionising radiation
In force since 8 January 2019
HIQA regulates every undertaking using medical radiation, private clinics and dentists included
What should clinic and hospital software in Ireland actually run?
Each module runs part of the service and records the evidence for the themes listed beside it.
01
Appointments and booking
Online booking from your own website, every clinician's diary read from their calendar, reminders, rebooking after a missed visit and waitlist offers when a slot opens.
Online booking at any hour, with a reminder before the visit.
For the business
Fewer missed appointments, and cancelled slots offered to the waitlist.
On the record
Every booking, reminder and change, with a time and a name.
02
Billing and payments
Card payments into your own Stripe account, the cancellation policy shown at booking, invoices, statements and reconciliation, with an export for your accountant.
A clear price and policy before they commit, and an invoice in their app.
For the business
Payments reconciled against visits, with an export for your accountant.
On the record
What was charged, when, against which visit, and the policy the patient saw.
03
AI scribe and clinical notes
The note, letters and referrals written from the consultation, cited to published clinical guidelines, with the transcript beside the note, for the clinician to read, edit and sign.
The clinician's attention stays on them during the consultation.
For the business
Less time spent writing notes after clinic.
On the record
A contemporaneous note, signed, with the time, the signature and the source it cites.
04
Follow-ups and patient messaging
WhatsApp, email and calls in one thread per patient, replies drafted in the patient's own language for your team to approve, a response clock on every new enquiry, and recalls a clinician approves.
A reply in the language they wrote in, approved by your team.
For the business
More enquiries answered within the hour, when they are most likely to book.
On the record
The whole conversation on one record, with response times.
05
Referrals, consent and audit trails
Recording consent taken at booking, referrals written from the visit, patient flags for controlled drugs and safeguarding notes, and every read of a record logged against a named account.
The system your hospital or clinic already runs on, so the evidence is recorded as the work is done. Look for one record behind booking, notes, messaging, payments and access, with signed contemporaneous notes, a full audit trail and reports for any period. wai is built that way, to help you achieve a compliant HIQA inspection.
Is there HIQA approved software?
The Health Information and Quality Authority sets national standards and monitors healthcare services against them. It does not approve, certify or endorse software, wai included, and software cannot earn a compliance judgment on a provider's behalf. wai keeps the records your team uses to show HIQA how care is delivered, and HIQA decides the compliance judgment. The Mental Health Commission does not endorse software either.
Does HIQA license hospitals and clinics in Ireland?
Not yet. HIQA monitors HSE and HSE-funded services and private hospitals against the national standards. Licensing of all hospitals and certain high-risk activities is proposed in the Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill, which is not yet law.
Does a private clinic have to report incidents to HIQA?
Yes, since 26 September 2024. Under the Patient Safety Act 2023, private and public health services providers, private clinics included, notify HIQA of a notifiable incident as soon as possible and within seven days, through NIMS.
How often does HIQA inspect a hospital?
Standard monitoring is two inspections in each three-year cycle, one announced and one unannounced. HIQA inspects more often where risk, compliance or concerns call for it.
Does HIQA inspect mental health services?
The national standards exclude mental health services, which the Mental Health Commission regulates. Every inpatient mental health unit must be registered by the Commission as an approved centre and is inspected at least once a year.
Does wai work for hospitals and multi-site groups?
Yes. Every location runs on the same record, inbox and reports. Larger organisations usually start with one pathway, such as outpatient booking, measure it on their own data, and widen it from there.
Where does wai keep our records?
In each clinic's own country, under that country's rules, encrypted, with a full audit log. We set this up with you before go-live.
Fifteen minutes on video, with your team, against the standards HIQA will assess. Built to help you achieve a compliant HIQA inspection. wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with you before go-live.
