Media Release- Bríd Smith calls for Minister Harris to answer questions on government mishandling of nursing home Covid-19 preparedness
As today sees the shocking rise in death toll, Bríd Smith calls for Minister Harris to answer questions on government mishandling of nursing home Covid-19 preparedness
Minister Simon Harris and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar now must answer questions from the opposition on their mishandling of the nursing homes in the Dáil this week.
Bríd Smith TD said: “The government mishandling and response to the nursing home preparedness for Covid-19 has been absolutely inadequate and it is a huge scandal which the Taoiseach and Minister for Health must answer. They must appear this week before the Dáil to answer questions on this matter. Specifically the decision not to test staff and residents at residential centres, the decision to place restrictions on the use and amount of PPEs going to nursing homes and the lack of any plan to deal with the dangers of reliance and use of agency workers moving from home to home.”
The Deputy repeated her concerns about the numbers of residents who had contacted the virus in homes and them been transferred to acute hospital care, saying they appeared very low.
“The explanations given to date by the Minister and Taoiseach may be correct, it may be that each case was judged by medical experts not to require transfer or acute care, but we need an independent method of oversight that can look at how and when these decisions were made so everyone, relatives, loved ones and society in general can be assured that no decision was made as a result of a desire to keep some people away from intensive care or acute hospital care.
“I have been calling ever since the crisis began for the government to take more serious action in protecting nursing homes residents in this state from the Covid-19 virus. The government did not take this situation seriously and now this country is having to deal with the bitter fruit that this scandalous mismanagement has caused.”
