(17 June) The Alliance of Age Sector NGOs, represented by Age Action, is meeting with the Nursing Home Expert Panel to communicate perspectives and experiences in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on nursing homes, with a particular focus on planning the further responses to nursing homes’ needs over the next 18 months. National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), chaired by the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, was established in January. It has been providing direction, guidance, support and expert advice on the development and implementation of Ireland’s strategic response to the pandemic. The Panel is due to report to the Minister for Health by end June 2020 and is has undertaken a public consultation details of which are available here.
The Alliance of Age Sector NGOs, represented by Age Action, is meeting with the Nursing Home Expert Panel to communicate perspectives and experiences in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on nursing homes, with a particular focus on planning the further responses to nursing homes’ needs over the next 18 months. National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), chaired by the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, was established in January. It has been providing direction, guidance, support and expert advice on the development and implementation of Ireland’s strategic response to the pandemic. The Panel is due to report to the Minister for Health by end June 2020 and is has undertaken a public consultation details of which are available here https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/5f703-nphet-covid-19-subgroup-nursing-homes-expert-panel/consultation
The Alliance will raise 4 key recommendations it believes the Panel need to consider:
- In order to learn lessons and build trust, the circumstances of each and every death in residential care settings during COVID-19 should be independently reviewed.
- A rights-based approach to care in Ireland requires action to fund and legislate for the right to care as the means to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health for older people.
- To strengthen the sector and provide an equitable standard of care, an independent review of the governance, oversight and enforcement mechanisms within the nursing homes sector – public, private and non-profit – should take place.
- To enable the participation of older people to harness their knowledge and ensure their full inclusion in shaping the policies that affect their lives and also broaden partnership with civil society and others.
The Alliance strongly belives that the experiences of older people during COVID-19 must shape future policy responses and as shared the presentation time allocated by the Nursing Home Expert Panel with a family member of a resident of a nursing home so they could put forward their lived experience.