Oireachtas committee criticises HIQA's handling of Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes
Fergus O Dowd TD told HIQA's CEO that he was 'horrified' about the way relatives of those who died were being treated by the health watchdog. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins
Hiqa has been criticised for its handling of Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes.
Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd described an address to the Oireachtas’ Covid special committee by the health watchdog's CEO Phelim Quinn as “self-serving”.
He said he was “horrified” about the way relatives of those who died were being treated by Hiqa.
Mentioning the 23 residents at Dealgan House Nursing Home in Dundalk who died from Covid-19 in particular, Mr O'Dowd attacked Hiqa’s “lack of staff, lack of inspections, lack of accountability”.
He claimed relatives of those who died had got “no help” from the watchdog when it came to the release of information.
What has been released has, he said, been heavily redacted.
“Families are looking for information and your refusal to give information under the Freedom of Information Act is deeply hurting them,” he said.
“23 people died and I want to know what HIQA did to protect those people.
He demanded Mr Quinn explain what he was going to do to help the relatives of those who died.
Mr Quinn said the issue of the release of information “is being addressed”.
Mr O’Dowd said: “Will you release information out of the Freedom of Information, to help these families get closure?”
He also asked: “Will you meet the families?” Mr Quinn replied: “We will consider it in the context of (ongoing) legal action.”
People Before Profit's Brid Smith TD demanded to know why Hiqa stopped inspecting nursing homes on the very day - March 13 - of the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in a nursing home.
She said the increase in deaths in the month that followed was "very graphic and it spiked out of control".
She asked: "Why did you take such a rapid decision on the first day you heard of a death?
"It was inappropriate."
Mr Quinn replied that Hiqa made the decision after receiving public health advice.
In his address earlier, he had said: “Covid-19 has brought into sharp focus the need to immediately review and enhance the current regulatory framework.
“In the long term, reform of established models of care for older people in Ireland is required."
He told the committee that Hiqa had contributed to the COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel report, published on 19 August by the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly.
Mr Quinn said: “This report contains a range of recommendations aimed at safeguarding residents in nursing homes. The report makes 86 recommendations, 24 of which are directly relevant to our role.
“Hiqa has been identified as the lead agency on four recommendations and is one of a number of agencies that will contribute to the implementation of a further 20.
“A large number of recommendations require urgent implementation and or planning for implementation to commence immediately.”
He said these include an increase in the volume and frequency of on-site inspection activity to at least one inspection per center per year, and targeted Covid-19 preparedness inspections.
Also needed is the implementation of additional regulations and legislation, or the amendment of current ones and an increase in Hiqa's capacity.
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