The Health Service Executive (HSE) said yesterday it had implemented a "robust" system of nursing home inspections following an internal review which highlighted flaws in the inspection process.
There was an internal HSE review of the inspections system for nursing homes in the Northern Area Health Board following the Leas Cross controversy on sub-standard care.
RTÉ reported yesterday that the review concluded that inspection teams should include a doctor, nurse and pharmacist and be made up of people with specific expertise in care of older people.
It also recommended that the HSE publish all inspection reports on its website because the public's right to know far outweighed arguments on commercial sensitivity.
A spokesman for the HSE last night said the conclusions had fed into an overall review of the nursing homes inspection process.
"It is an historic report and things have moved on," he said. "We have a robust system of inspections nationally, whereas the previous system was patchy and inconsistent. There is now a greater focus on quality of patient care, whereas before there may have been a greater focus on infrastructural issues."
The spokesman said the HSE was continuing to strengthen its inspection process, which would ultimately be helped by the establishment of an independent nursing homes inspectorate by the Department of Health.