Donnelly says nursing homes need more support

A NURSING home in which there have been almost 100 cases of Covid-19 is not located in County Wicklow.

Fianna Fáil health spokesman Stephen Donnelly raised matter in the Dáil last week and said that the nursing home is in Leinster.

The centre in question has 200 staff, 70 of whom have tested positive for Covid-19. He said of the 100 residents, 19 have tested positive and four have died.

Speaking to the Bray People on Monday, Deputy Donnelly said that while that particular premises is not in County Wicklow, Wicklow nursing homes need greater levels of support. ‘ They are doing trojan work,’ he said. ‘What they are saying to me is they need more personal protective equipment, and more staff. Financial support is very welcome.’

He said that there is a high number of confirmed cases in Wicklow generally. ‘ There needs to be more openness and transparency,’ said Deputy Donnelly. ‘ There is a general lack of openness. Families are saying they have a right to know what is happening with their relatives living in nursing homes.’

‘Nursing homes cannot get the staff they need, particularly in areas where additional skills, such as palliative care, are required. They cannot get their hands on personal protective equipment. They are receiving small amounts but that is not enough,’ said Deputy Donnelly in the Dáil. Minister for Health Simon Harris told the Dáil that addressing issues in long term residential care is ‘a big public health issue that we have to get right’.

He said that infection prevention and control teams are being deployed. There is a prioritisation of staff for testing, including temperature checking twice a day, and PPE supply is being increased as well as access to oxygen.

Announcing the measures on Saturday, Minister Harris said that movement of staff between nursing home settings needs to be minimised and that nursing homes do ‘active screening’ of staff twice a day. The government is recommending that the temperature of all staff is taken twice a day, to ensure that if any staff member is feeling unwell or developing symptoms of a fever that they can go home.

Each nursing home will also have to produce a Covid-19 preparedness plan and allocate a team, or at least one person, to be their lead contact on the virus. Mr Harris also said that in addition to these measures, a temporary Covid-19 financial support scheme is being introduced to support the critical services provided by nursing homes.

The scheme will provide a temporary assistance payment to support private and voluntary nursing homes in managing any outbreak that occurs. It is envisaged that the scheme will operate for a three-month period. It will be reviewed after the first month’s operation.

Providing the financial supports to nursing homes actively managing an outbreak could cost up to €72 million over three months.

Minister Harris said this would be the cost if every nursing home claimed the maximum benefit.