NURSING HOMES WE
The lack of testing, the discharge of patients from public hospitals into nursing homes, supplies of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and staffing have all emerged as key issues which played a part in the spread of COVID-19 into nursing homes, leading to the deaths of over 600 nursing home residents across the country.
As a large amount of information was put into the public domain last week about communications between the HSE, NPHET, HIQA and Nursing Homes Ireland in the run-up to the lockdown, a clearer picture is emerging of what went wrong regarding the steps which were taken to protect the most vulnerable members of society.
The total number of people who died from COVID 19 in nursing homes and care centres in County Louth is 34. Twenty two of those deaths occurred in Dealgan House, six in Sunhill Nursing Home, Termonfeckin, three in St Mary’s Nursing Home, Drogheda, two in the Whitmore Unit, St John of Gods, Drumcar, and one in the Cottage Hospital, Drogheda.
Sinn Féin’s Ruairí Ó Murchú said that the details which are emerging back up the need for a public inquiry.
‘ The revelations, which showed how the vast majority number of people who died in the State from COVID-19 were residents of nursing homes, can only add weight to the calls already made by Dealgan House families for an independent inquiry.’
The new data released showed that of the 1,030 deaths, almost 60%, or 601 people, died across 39 facilities which had ten or more people pass away.
Mr Ó Murchú said: ‘ The vast amount of information that has been revealed in the last week, through the media and from FOIs, shows that nursing homes were nowhere near the top of the government’s agenda as they faced this pandemic.
‘It is clear that despite early warnings, from as far back as the end of February, that there was insufficient PPE in nursing homes, that they were struggling with staff retention, that they were under pressure to take transferees from acute hospitals – with no COVID-19 testing in place – the HSE dithered and oscillated about what to do.
‘ The priority was firmly on managing the risks to acute hospitals – which faced the risk of being swamped with ICU cases – but there was scant regard for nursing homes and the challenges they faced.’
‘Families, including of the 22 people who died in Dealgan House, were the ones who were swamped, with sadness, shock and grief at the loss of their loved ones.
‘One of the most shocking revelations was a Department of Health report which said that if protocols, set down on March 10, had been adhered to regarding the testing of patients being transferred from hospitals combined with the proper use of infection prevention control, the risk of spreading COVID-19 in nursing homes ‘would have been low’.
‘All the information that has come out in the last seven days shows that an inquiry, into the unbelievable scale of the COVID-19 tragedy in nursing homes, has become inevitable at this stage, and Health Minister Simon Harris can’t delay any longer in announcing one’.
It has also emerged that a total of 534 patients were discharged from hospitals nationwide and moved to the facilities between March 1 and May 6.
Of these, 45 patients - the second highest number of patients discharged into care settings - came from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and The Argus understands