Tragic deaths of Lily and Florrie underline the fact that Covid leaves our elderly folk without a voice
E’RE getting used to this new normal, aren’t we? The talk is now of facemasks, public transport, the economy and getting back to work.
What’s bothering most of us is when can we get to the hairdressers, when can we see our families, when can we travel, when can our children go back to school – and what about the poor teenagers whose lives have been put on hold because of this Leaving Cert debacle?
In many respects we’ve become accustomed to Tony Holohan’s briefings, the daily death toll that flashes up every evening around teatime, once a bloodfreezing horror story now dialled down to something that probably happens to other people.
Care homes, nursing homes and underlying conditions are phrases that have been popping up as we continue to go about our business in this new normal. And it’s proof, if any were needed, that some things haven’t changed at all.
Residential and community care facilities including nursing homes now account for more than 62% of deaths from the Covid-19 virus.
The percentage has risen steadily over the last few weeks, from that time back at the end of April when Leo Varadkar pointed out a study that proved we were no better or worse than our European neighbours.
Now, however, here we are, not flattening any curve in residential care, and worse off than many other countries where the average deaths in these settings range between 40% and 60%.
Vulnerable
There were warnings early on about the damage this virus could do in care home settings, it was noted that there should be a concerted effort to try to prevent Covid-19 from entering the care setting as these places house the most vulnerable in our society.
With the best will in the world, anyone with a relative in the care system will tell you it is a non-stop battle of negotiation, jumping hoops, hurdling obstacles and trying to untangle red tape surrounding various health and welfare appointments to have essential needs addressed.
No-one wants to see a relative in these care settings – this happens because there is no other choice left.
The only reason people live in these settings is because they are either alone in the world or their relatives just don’t have the ability and provision to keep them safely at home.
It’s one of the hardest things in the world to have a parent placed in nursing care, but the idea behind it is that the person you love will be in the situation that is best for them, where they will be looked after by trained staff who know what to do better than you ever could.
You do this because you want your mother or father to be safe and to be comfortable.
And you pay a lot of money for this privilege too, though little of it filters down to the staff on the bottom rung of the ladder, despite the fact that you rely heavily on their professionalism and kindness.
It’s a constant fight for those with disabilities, those with health issues, those who are elderly, to get their needs addressed, to have their voices heard – and this is exactly why the care home crisis has happened.
Yes, there were warnings from leading doctors about what might happen should the virus get into the system, as far back as March.
But it would seem that not enough was done to protect people in these settings, however valiant the workers on the ground. Families followed protocol, staying away to protect their loved ones but, in many cases, information has been scant and advice non-existent as the situation with coronavirus worsened.
In Dundalk’s Dealgan House, 23 residents have died since April, many with suspected Covid-19. But due to a lack of testing we’ll probably never find out exactly how many succumbed to the virus.
We might never hear all their names, scattered as they were in the daily death toll, muttered along with the median age and underlying condition tag. Lily McArdle died on April 7, aged 89.
Florrie Cleary, whose Covid-19 test came back negative, was 95. She died on April 24.
Lily’s daughter Loretto says she was distraught to see a daily toll of three or four people from Dealgan House on the notices section of RIP.ie.
Florrie’s daughter Ann said goodbye to her mother one day, knowing that she might not see her again, but she wanted to do what the Government was asking of her to try to keep her mother safe.
Both women died as their families struggled to get information and help. But now they are just two of 23 – more statistics, more numbers, more vulnerable people who fell by the wayside while the rest of us continued about our daily lives.
Dealgan House offered its deepest sympathies to the families of those residents who passed away, and has apologised for the lack of communication, but that is not enough. If we are truly to move forward and be a more caring society as a whole post-Covid, we must pay more attention to what is happening to others who are more vulnerable than us.
The attitude that some people in this fight against Covid-19 are collateral damage because they are old, frail, suffering from a condition or even just overweight is one that should not be tolerated by any of us.
Accountable
By all means applaud the Government for managing to flatten the curve in general terms, but it should still be held accountable for what has occurred in care settings as there is no doubt that not enough was done to protect people there. You could see the distress in Ann Cleary’s face as she spoke on television this week, demanding answers.
‘These were people, they had families, they lived lives. They may not have been people who wrote books or were powerful or had a lot of money… but they deserve respect,’ she said.
‘And I just have a real sense that these people have been left voiceless by this.’
So when the latest figures drop this evening, remember that no death from Covid-19 is a good number, one death is still one too many and everyone on this island deserves to be protected.
It is up to all of us to use our voices to speak up for those who cannot do so.