Archbishop hits out over ‘strange’ limit
Country closer to zero cases in ICUS
Ireland to help, who were extra as the surge was over in the hospitals, and there were 70,000 people who were being vetted as part of the On Call for Ireland initiative. Many of my well trained colleagues who volunteered never got a phone call. We never redeployed staff to help the residential homes in a timely fashion.
So what have we learned? HIQA did not come in to inspect. The ambulance crews were sent out to swab all of the nursing homes, following the call for boots on the ground and that was described as a solution to help the nursing homes. In fact this was a wasteful exercise that just took testing and support away from where it was needed. So too many elderly died. We made mistakes. And now we have put together a tribunal to lay blame.
BAre they better staffed? If you need a Covid test, and you work in these homes, can you now get it within 24 hours and get results the same day? Will all of your contacts be found? I have seen no evidence pathways have changed.
Covid has brought out a lack of attention to the Irish nursing homes that has been ongoing for years. And Covid now brings another tribunal and likely another blame game.
My advice is to use this as an opportunity to fix the problems, find new governance, find ways to support the residential facilities, link the hospital to the community system to ensure a
Cases: Deaths: 25,374 (up 22) 1,715 (up 2)
118,020) 3,287)
(up (up
St Mary’s Hospital in Phoenix Park, Dublin
high level of support. We need boots on the ground in the community, highly competent boots, as our elderly are first class citizens and for years they have been treated as second class ones. Inadequate facilities, inadequate staffing, inadequate supervision and support. It is the DOH and the HSE responsibility to ensure a safe and caring nursing home environment exists for our elderly, not a public versus private thing.
This is an opportunity to fix a broken system, not just to find scapegoats for the avoidable mistakes that happened in Irish nursing homes. Otherwise, it will once again be Groundhog Day when Covid resurges.
news@irishmirror.ie
IRELAND is edging towards zero coronavirus cases in intensive care as the number of patients has dropped 90% from the peak.
Health Minister Simon Harris confirmed there were 16 people with Covid-19 in ICUS yesterday.
This is a fall from the 160 intensive care patients at the peak of the outbreak here in early April.
Mr Harris praised the public for their cooperation, but said we need to “stick to advice” as the country reopens.
A LEADING cleric has branded the 50 person limit for churches as “strange” and “disappointing”.
The easing of restrictions means parishes can open for Mass from June 29.
And from July 20, up to 100 people can gather indoors.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said: “It is obviously disappointing that with the reopening for public worship there is a blanket restriction to the participation of a maximum of 50 in these first weeks.”