‘It’s simply unfair and unacceptable... we are all here trying to provide the best care’
‘More meaningful engagement needed’
STAFF are being poached by the HSE, when nursing homes are trying to care for vulnerable residents, one manager has said.
Valerie Joy, director of nursing at Lisheen Nursing Home in 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 her home and its 165 staff cater for 114 residents, aged between their late 30s and 101, including people with disabilities, dementia and other acute needs.
‘We are already fighting a difficult battle from a funding point of view. Fair Deal is the only show in town, but costs are capped and they are increasing, from a recruitment point of view, for equipment such as PPE [personal protective equipment], for increased infection control measures and increased social activities for residents,’ she said.
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 loves ones face-to-face, or holding hands, due to the ban on visitors to cut down infection risks.
But she said she had received 6,500 letters and emails from members of the public, children and adults from as far afield as Canada and Amsterdam, following a Facebook appeal she made for correspondence for residents. And she said iPads were also being given to residents to allow them to communicate with family members.