SF CALLS FOR CARE HOMES DEATH PROBE
SINN Féin is calling for a public inquiry into nursing home deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic in a bill motion they’re set to bring to the Dáil this week.
More than 2,000 nursing home residents have died after contracting the virus since the beginning of the pandemic, accounting for around 40% of all Covid-related deaths.
In its motion, Sinn Féin wants a public investigation into the deaths to determine the quality of care given to residents in care homes and how the State’s response to the pandemic contributed to the deaths.
The party’s health spokesperson David Cullinane said that families who lost loved ones during the Covid pandemic deserved answers as to how this had happened, as did the Oireachtas itself.
‘Families need answers and we also as legislators and policy-makers need answers as well,’ he said.
‘Families want to know what happened, they want a public inquiry to establish what the State’s response was, was it adequate, what failures can be identified and mainly, what lessons can be learned.’
The motion seeks to empower or establish a State agency to oversee care homes that would also be able to enforce safeguarding legislation and investigate any complaints in the sector.
Mr Cullinane said the need was there for such a body even before the pandemic, adding that one must be put in place as soon as possible.
‘One of the things that is really problematic, not just during Covid but before, is that there’s a lot of uncertainty in relation to who’s responsible for initiating investigations,’ the Waterford TD said.
‘Even for social care teams to be able to go in and have a right of entry to investigate what happened, they have to be invited in by the nursing homes as opposed
to having a legal right to entry.
‘We know that there was some very serious neglect of some residents in some nursing homes, even before Covid it was an issue.
‘There needs to be real reform in this area and there has to be a Government body that can initiate investigations into very serious cases of neglect.’
Sinn Féin is also arguing in the motion that guidance on visitation to care homes issued by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre was not implemented on a statutory basis – something the party is also pushing for.
‘We want to see the visitation guidance that was given to Government to be put on a statutory footing going forward as well so that there’s a legal right to visitations for families,’ Mr Cullinane said.
‘Obviously there are times when visitations have to be curtailed but the actual guidance that was issued has to be put on a statutory basis.’
Mr Cullinane added that it was clear during hearings of both the Health Committee and the Covid Committee that nursing homes felt as though they had been ‘left without guidance’ at times in the pandemic’ and there were ‘serious issues’ with the staffing and the delivery of vital equipment.
‘You have all those issues in the very early stages of the pandemic. It was felt that there wasn’t proper support put in place for nursing homes,’ he said.
‘There was some serious neglect’