NURSING HOMES ‘IGNORED’
Nursing homes face losing staff as hospitals fill positions
NURSING home managers have said they are feeling ignored by the Government, during a national crisis that threatens their 25,000 patients.
Tadgh Daly, chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, said his members were facing a head-on competition with the HSE for staff and resources, despite caring for some of the most vulnerable members of society. One nursing home manager claimed that staff were being poached by the HSE, while nursing homes were trying to care for vulnerable residents.
Mr Daly called for an urgent meeting with Health Minister Simon Harris about the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that while the sector was doing all it could to protect residents and staff, it wanted more commitment and support from the State.
Mr Daly said these were challenging times but private and voluntary nursing homes were coping as best they could, despite being on the frontline.
He said they were engaging with the HSE on a daily basis but the minister had not responded to numerous requests for a conference call.
Recruitment was a major issue, he said. ‘The HSE is recruiting, and we are competing for nurses and carers. They should not recruit anybody from the nursing home sector at this point in time. It is counterproductive.’
Homes need more staff than ever, due to workers going out sick, and the need to keep residents wellcared for and entertained while visitors are banned.
He said the HSE should prioritise the testing of healthcare workers who were delivering hands-on care, as homes were currently losing staff members as they waited for Covid-19 tests and results.
Supplies of personal protective equipment, such as gloves, masks and hand sanitiser, are also a problem, he added.
He said the sector needed contingency funding due to the added costs of providing care, including agency staff, during the coronavirus emergency.
‘Emergency funding has been announced in sectors such as childcare and business. Given the pressures on the nursing home sector, we need funding to ensure continuity of service.’
Mr Daly said the staff at the nursing homes were the unsung heroes of the sector, who were making every effort to ensure that life for the patients continued as normally as was possible.
He said the Irish community was rallying to help, with musicians performing outside homes, and children writing letters to residents.
He said: ‘We’re told by An Taoiseach and Government we are in this together but the ignoring of our sector defies such pronouncements.
‘We are on the frontline of healthcare delivery in hundreds of communities across Ireland.
‘The lack of engagement is a major insult to nursing home residents and staff, and defies logic given the nature of this public health emergency.
‘We have an absolutely essential role to fulfil in supporting our health services during this unprecedented time.
‘Failure to appropriately engage and support our sector will actually diminish the capacity of our health services and increase pressures upon acute hospitals.’
Valerie Joy, director of nursing at Lisheen Nursing Home, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, said: ‘Today, two members of staff have been approached by the HSE, which wants them to start on Monday.
‘It’s unfair and unacceptable. We are all here, trying to provide the very best care. That might fill a gap somewhere else, but it puts pressure on us.’
Ms Joy said changes in policy were not being communicated by the HSE, such as the altered criteria for coronavirus testing, which she only learned about through the media.
‘We are all supposed to be in this together but there needs to be more meaningful engagement at a higher level,’ she said.
Ms Joy said it was difficult to fill the gap for residents who missed seeing their loved ones face-toface, or holding hands, due to the ban on visitors to cut down infection risks.
‘A major insult to residents’ ‘We’re supposed to be in this together
Blood test ‘can tell if someone has had the virus’
A SIMPLE blood test to identify whether someone has had coronavirus could soon be approved.
Public Health England (PHE) said yesterday scientists were ‘days away’ from approving the test, described by British prime minister Boris Johnson as a ‘game changer’.
It will be used initially to assess frontline staff in the UK including doctors, nurses, care home workers and teachers.
Testing positive would indicate someone is virtually immune from catching the disease again in the short term, allowing them to work safely.
Over time the blood test could be made available at chemists and online.
The UK’s Health Service has purchased 3.5million of the tests and is ordering millions more.
However, the breakthrough was played down last night by the UK’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty.
He said the priority for the NHS remained increasing the testing of health workers showing possible symptoms of the disease.
Limited capacity has meant testing has so far been focused on hospital patients showing signs of the coronavirus.
The failure to increase testing capacity more quickly has hindered the fight against the epidemic by forcing many NHS staff in the UK with cold and flu symptoms to selfisolate even though they may not have the disease.
With every available health worker needed to tackle an expected surge in cases in the coming weeks, NHS chiefs say they cannot afford to have key staff off unnecessarily.