Searching questions for our nursing homes
SOMEBODY, somewhere took their eye off the ball in relation to nursi ng homes and Covid-19. Our response to the crisis on a national level has been commendable to say the least and measures put in place have certainly had the desired effect of slowing down the spread of this dreadful virus.
There’s some 571 nursing homes in the country, 455 of which are in private hands and it is this sector which has been decimated by the coronavirus.
Figures from mid April report that deaths in Irish residential settings accounted for 54% of the overall toll, more than what Italy had experienced in its residential care settings (53%).
In the affected nursing homes, one in five staff members had reported Covid-19 symptoms, and one in six residents.
Nursing home care is not cheap and apart from the monthly fees, there has been many instances where residents are charged for newspapers and other ‘additional resources’ such as ‘entertainment and activities.’
That’s the problem when most of the country’s nursing homes are run by private concerns, profit has to be main goal and unfortunately this sector is now the one least in a position to tackle this dreadful crisis.
The sector has been woefully unprepared and has been appealing to the Government this past week for help.
Nursing homes like the rest of us received the same warning towards the end of last year that a new virus was on the loose and likely to spread like no other in our lifetime yet no ramped up measures seemed to have been taken.
Scant personal protection gear appeared to have been available in our nursing and residential homes.
MORE than one million items of PPE have now been delivered to nursing homes across the country in recent days with health authorities saying they have been focusing efforts and resources on long-term residential care facilities.
Who will foot the bill for this? Private nursing homes or the Government? When we do get over this awful crisis one area of review and possible enquiry must be into the nursing home sector with searching questions being asked as regards to its preparations for Covid-19. The sector must take responsibility for what has happened and not take the easy option of blaming the Government.