Nursing homes HIQA report
Deputy McDonald pressed the Taoiseach on damning HIQA findings about nursing-home governance, staffing and infection control, and urged swift work to let families’ experiences be recorded. The Taoiseach said the report was serious, would be examined in detail, and praised HIQA’s regulatory role.
I ask the Taoiseach about the HIQA report into nursing homes which contained some very damning observations. It is absolutely apparent that nursing homes did not conform to any satisfactory level of clinical governance and were left without the human and practical resources necessary to protect residents and staff. We know how all of this ended. It ended with many people losing their lives with many families to this day shattered by that traumatising experience.
We need to know what happened in the nursing homes because we need to put right the wrongs of the past number of months. We also need to prepare ourselves for the real possibility of a second surge, as well as to prepare ourselves for the autumn and winter. We need to be absolutely sure that those living in nursing homes are properly cared for and that their families and the wider community have that confidence.
I propose we establish a special Oireachtas committee to speedily, efficiently and compassionately examine what happened in our nursing homes. I propose the Taoiseach would support the establishment of this committee.
Comment on this
We must do the work now and throughout August to ensure this committee can speedily work in order we learn the lessons and the families affected have some platform for their real experiences to be recorded and responded to.
Comment on this
It is an important and serious report from HIQA. We will examine it in considerable detail. Some of the issues in the 45-page report are concerning in terms of breaches of regulations, management failings, staff shortages and lack of infection control measures. That was after dozens of inspections at homes with confirmed cases since May.
Sometimes we do not acknowledge the role of HIQA in terms of its regulatory functions, a body which I established quite some time ago. It has brought about reforms in health through its regulatory rigour which is applied to all settings without fear or favour. It is not always popular because of that but, nonetheless, it is an important vehicle towards reform.
The Minister has informed me that the expert review on Covid in nursing homes should be on his desk next week. With the publication of that, we should liaise with all parties to work out the next steps on that.
In the first instance, we need to learn the lessons so that we can apply them when issues may arise again - hopefully they will not if we can avoid them - with a second spike in the autumn and the 'flu season. That is the spirit in which I want to approach this. We must also make sure that we take medium-term lessons as to how we reform the care of the elderly into the future and have a broader range of support options for families and people.