COVID-19 DÁIL COMMITTEE WILL DISCUSS DEALGAN HOME DEATHS
The deaths of over a quarter of the residents of Dealgan House Nursing Home during the coronavirus crisis in the month of April will be raised at the COVID-19 committee in Leinster House today (Tuesday) by Sinn Féin TD Ruairí Ó Murchú.
The committee was set up two weeks ago and has representatives from all the political parties and independent groupings in the Dáil, with Louth’s Fine Gael TD being another member.
The purpose of the committee is to examine the government response to the outbreak and its plans for the future management of the pandemic. Deputy Ó Murchú, who first raised the unfolding tragedy in Dealgan House with Minister Simon Harris three weeks ago, said he will have an opportunity to question officials from HIQA and the Department of Health about their response to the deaths of 23 people in the Dundalk nursing home since April 1.
The Louth TD said: ‘ The establishment of the special COVID-19 Committee is vital in the process of holding the government and officials to account about their response to the pandemic.
‘ There is no-one in Dundalk at this stage who isn’t aware of the tragic events at Dealgan House Nursing Home and it is clear that there have been failings in relation to the overall nursing and congregated setting sectors and in particular how older people are cared for.
‘I will be raising issues around Dealgan House and the wider nursing homes issue with HIQA, who will be inspecting the facility in the near future, and with the Department of Health.
‘It is critical that we ensure that any mistakes were made are arrested and we operate with best practice into the fut
Deputy O Murchu also raised the issue in the Dail last Thursday when he asked Health Minister Simon Harris about the establishment of an inquiry into what happened at the Dundalk nursing home.
Mr Ó Murchú said: ‘ The demand from families for an inquiry into what happened, when and how, at Dealgan House remains, and is growing stronger.’
He pressed the Minister as to whether he would state if an inquiry would be set up.
‘Families feel strongly, and so do I, that until we have answers about how this huge tragedy happened in this nursing home, lessons will not be learned in time to save lives into the future’.
The Sinn TD also raised the forthcoming HIQA inspection of the facility and he wanted to know whether it would be used as the basis for deciding whether the RCSI Hospital Group hands back operational control to the owners of Dealgan House.
Minister Harris indicated that he would await the outcome of the HIQA inspection before deciding the next step. He added that he had read some of the ‘ heart-breaking’ stories from the Dealgan House families and would update TDs in writing about the involvement of the RCSI group.
Minister Harris also said he would welcome the involvement of a patient advocacy group to liaise with the families.
Independent TD Peter Fitzpatrick also spoke about the tragedy in Dealgan House, saying that he was not ‘interested in a blame game but lessons must be learned and admissions must be made regarding how certain aspects of the Covid-19 outbreak were handled by those in power.
He argued that to prevent it from ever happening again it was vital to spell out how certain areas and sectors were overlooked, abandoned and left to fend for themselves for far too long, until it was too late to stop the virus from taking hold.
Nursing and residential homes are the most obvious victims of this neglect. It was known from the very start of the COVID-19 outbreak, from what happened in other countries, that the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions were most at risk from this virus, yet nursing and residential homes ranked near the bottom of this list when it came to Ireland’s preparations for the outbreak here.’H
Deputy Fitzpatrick also expressed concern that the management of nursing homes will be made scapegoats and blamed for the high number of deaths that occurred in these settings. ‘Management and staff always have a responsibility for what happens on their watch but the tragedy that happened in so many nursing and residential homes could have been greatly reduced had they been given assistance from the top, as was needed from the very start. ‘
It is utterly unacceptable that immediate support was not made available when it emerged that only seven of the 24 nursing staff were available to work in Dealgan House Nursing Home due to staff contracting the virus or being suspected of having the virus. If coming to the aid of nursing homes had been treated as a national emergency, then replacement of staff, provision of PPE and regular testing would have occurred as a priority at the start.’
He stated that: ‘ The record is very clear that this did not happen. The result is a huge number of casualties, loss of life and utter devastation for families. All that the families are looking for is answers. They do not want to hear excuses or admissions from those in power regarding the failure to protect their loved ones. The only way lessons will be learned is by ensuring the same neglect of the most vulnerable in our society never happens again.’
He also asked Minister Harris if he was planning to set up a public inquiry into what went wrong in nursing homes like Dealgan House Nursing Home in Dundalk.
Minister Harris told him that he welcomed the fact that HIQA is due to carry out an inspection in regard to Dealgan and he would be guided by the outcome of that. He also informed him of the COVID committee being set up.