Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I’m shocked to find Mcbride ordered that care home inspections be reduced 9wks ago..why did he do that?
Families ‘left in state of concern & limbo’
THE son of a pensioner with dementia fears thousands of old people were left vulnerable by an order to reduce care home inspections ahead of lockdown.
Keith Gray, from Newry, Co Down, wants to know why the Chief Medical Officer gave the directive.
The letter from Dr Michael Mcbride was sent to the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority three weeks after the first Covid-19 infection was confirmed here – and three days before lockdown.
In it he described the health situation as “rapidly developing”.
The Department of Health said yesterday the RQIA, which is tasked with checking care homes, was “repurposed to take on different roles in the care home setting” during the pandemic.
And with Dr Mcbride’s directive still in place, the RQIA is currently “working to develop new approaches to how inspections can be carried out”.
Mr Gray, 41, a former care worker, said: “I have one very simple question for Dr Mcbride.
“Why did he leave clients of care and nursing homes in a potentially more vulnerable position with fewer inspections during a world pandemic that preys on the elderly?” The DOH direction still remains in place and it said the RQIA is now working to develop new strategies to gain assurance about the safety and quality of its inspections.
Mr Gray added: “We needed more inspections, not fewer. As families we’ve been left in a state of deep concern and limbo.
“We can’t access the homes, we can’t check the correct care is being given and now the frequency of on-site inspections are reduced.
“During coronovirus, the level of concern over lack of suitable PPE for staff and clients in care has been distressing. Some homes have done great work with no infections recorded.
“Others have been hit hard by infection and deaths have occurred.
“Some families discovered there were Covid-19 fatalities in care homes through reports in the media, and many workers reported being told not to wear PPE, as it wasn’t necessary. Others said they were short of the PPE.
“With my mother Briege living in care, I like every other family in the same position have been very concerned and unable to visit to check she’s OK.
“To discover then that the Chief Medical Officer gave a directive on March 20 for the number of inspections at these homes to be reduced is shocking.
“We were not advised or warned about it and given no opportunity to have our say.
“We still have no explanation as to why Dr Mcbride would do that.
“I can think of no acceptable reason why he would give this type of instruction.
“Surely thorough, regular and repeated on-site inspections of any facility housing the most vulnerable are more important than ever during a global health pandemic, especially when they have no back-up in visits from loved ones.
“It’s becoming very clear that the figures for the numbers of infections within care and nursing homes are very high and the fatality rates are the highest amongst our 60 to 80-year-olds.
“Dr Mcbride told the public in early March that the elderly and frail were at most risk of Covid-19 and needed to avoid it at all costs.
“Yet now we know that he told the RQIA to basically back off from their normal work, reduce the number of inspections and cease some entirely.
“That means they may not have been available to do spot-checks in person to make sure the right measures were being taken in response to Covid-19.
“My question is why? What sense was there in this directive? What outcome was anticipated?
“And I’d like to know what risk this action may have created to individuals in these homes?”
Earlier this month, Mr Gray won High Court permission to challenge the decision to reduce inspections at care homes in Northern
Ireland. He has been granted leave to seek a judicial review into claims the Department of Health unlawfully directed a watchdog body to suspend some checks on facilities during the Covid-19 emergency. A judge has listed the case for a full hearing on May 29. In the challenge mounted in 73-year-old Briege Gray’s name, lawyers for the family contend the department unlawfully directed the RQIA to put some statutory inspections on hold.
They also claim the authority misinterpreted the direction as providing flexibility to continue inspections remotely.
Solicitor Kevin Winters told the Mirror: “The directive by the Department of Health led to an immediate judicial review challenge which will take place on May 29.
“The case is representative of thousands of people living in care and nursing homes in Northern Ireland and the implications for them and their families during the Covid-19 crisis.
“Since the judicial review was granted, it has been announced that inspections are to take place on a regular basis.
“However, there remain issues of great concern – how will these inspections take place and how frequently?
“Any doubt surrounding this situation means thousands of families remain in a state of limbo.”