A report published by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) said that inspections stopped on March 13th due to Covid-19, but 44 inspections have been carried out since they resumed on May 27th.
The inspections found that only 27% of the country’s nursing homes were fully compliant in this regard.
Almost 60% of homes were also non-compliant regarding governance and management, with the report stating: “these nursing homes were ill-equipped to manage the challenges presented by COVID-19.
“Inspectors found examples of poor contingency planning, a failure to identify replacement staff, and a lack of effective communication and supervision between staff and management.”
The report said the Chief Inspector, Mary Dunnion felt these governance issues “contributed to more severe outbreaks than may otherwise have been the case.”
The inspections also revealed that baseline staffing levels had not increased, even in centres where there was significant Covid-19 outbreaks.
Also, in some centres where additional staff had been provided to ease staffing pressures, they were removed as soon as was feasible.
The provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was another issue identified by the Chief Inspector in the report, citing “confusion with regard to who was responsible for ongoing supply of such equipment” as the reason for shortages.
