Large numbers on deaths in nursing homes needs detailed scrutiny says Bríd Smith TD
People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has described the numbers of deaths from Covid-19 in nursing homes as a “catastrophic failure”.
She said the figures and volume of clusters demanded answers from the Department of Health, the HSE and the Minister for Health Simon Harris.
The TD will also seek answers to the spread of clusters at nursing homes and whether employment practice at some homes such as the use of agency staff employed by chains of nursing homes could have inadvertently spread the virus.
She said: “I am particularly concerned about what guidance the HSE and department have provided to nursing homes on how to deal with residents with Covid-19 and specifically if and when they should be moved for acute hospital care. It seems many are dying in their nursing homes and not getting any hospital treatment. This may be a correct response, but we need to know that each individual person is getting the correct treatment and that these decisions are been made by medically trained staff on the ground in each situation.
“We were forewarned that the elderly are particularly vulnerable and I cannot understand why testing of staff and residents was not seen as a priority by the HSE and Minister at the start of this crisis.”
People Before Profit will put questions to the government on Thursday at the next Dáil sitting.
