The State’s health watchdog didn’t provide Covid-specific training to its nursing home inspectors until after the peak of the virus last April, new data has revealed.
The Irish Mirror has learned just over five hours of coronavirus training was provided by HIQA to its 28 “Older Persons” inspectors between late April and June.
The findings have been described as “shocking” by Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd while other members of the Dail’s Special Committee on Covid-19 have expressed their concerns over a “lack of preparedness”.
His party colleague Colm Burke said: “It would now appear from this documentation that adequate preparation was not put in place and there is very little evidence of preparation happening in December in 2019, January, February and March of 2020.”
HIQA had stopped inspecting nursing homes on March 13, 2020 – the same day the first case was discovered in a nursing home.
According to a HIQA spokeswoman, inspections resumed at the end of April.
However, Nursing Homes Ireland chief Tadhg Daly has claimed they resumed on May 27, 2020, in “Covid-free homes only”.
He told the Irish Mirror: “We have highlighted from the outset there was a lack of preparation by a myriad of State agencies in respect of nursing homes.”
In its own report on the impact Covid-19 had on the nursing home sector, HIQA said it “has been represented on NPHET since it was established in late January 2020”.
Despite this, data under FOI shows HIQA only established an infection prevention and control hub on April 6, 2020, “to provide support and advice to social care services”.
Sources have said they were left “frustrated” over the lack of training specifically regarding Covid-19.
The Department of Health was contacted for comment.
