Majority of staff and 26 residents at Galway nursing home test positive for Covid-19

Nightingale Nursing Home in Lowville, Ahascragh, Ballinasloe, has been left with just one nurse, one care assistant, a chef, and a food server after all other staff members tested positive.

A nursing home in the Roscommon-Galway region has been left in a state of ‘absolute emergency’ after the majority of staff and 26 of the 28 residents tested positive for the coronavirus.

Nightingale Nursing Home in Lowville, Ahascragh, Ballinasloe, has been left with just one nurse, one care assistant, a chef, and a food server after all other staff members tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the director of nursing there.

Patricia MacGabhann, who herself has tested positive for Covid-19, said she has begged for help from the HSE but the remaining two nursing staff have been left on their own.

This afternoon, HSE Chief Operations Officer Anne O'Connor responded to the situation saying they are monitoring the nursing home carefully.

"We are continuing to support so we now know that the rosters are covered, that we have staff in place to provide support to the nursing home," said Ms O'Connor.

"We also have a dedicated manager providing daily support in terms of assessing staff.

"We are continuing to monitor the nursing home closely and we know that we have stable staffing in place for the next three days."

Health minister Stephen Donnelly said he is aware of the situation.

"These cases were detected through testing the HSE does. Infection and prevention control teams were deployed, staff have been deployed, serial testing is ongoing, all staff and residents were tested.

"There are senior management on-site right now as we speak."

A resident of the Nightingale Nursing Home had been admitted to Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe with Covid-19. 

Subsequently, the entire nursing home was tested on Monday and the remaining 25 out of 27 residents were found to be positive for the virus when the results came back on Tuesday night. All but four staff members were also found to have coronavirus.

One person has passed away and two other residents are to be admitted to hospital later today, Ms MacGabhann said.

Speaking earlier today, Ms MacGabhann said the HSE did provide a night nurse last night and had promised to send two carers to assist today but when the sole nurse who tested negative for the virus turned up for work she was left alone with the care assistant.

“That was going to dig us out of a hole but nobody showed up. Those two girls down there are just running on adrenaline,” Ms MacGabhann told the Roscommon Herald.

“I have no solid symptoms, I am not sick. I would go down there to help except I am not allowed to,” she added.

“I just cannot understand. Our residents- yes they are in a private nursing home, but they are citizens of this country and the State has an obligation to look after them. They (the HSE) are not giving us the help. They kept batting it back to us saying: ‘Go and find agency staff.’ But we cannot get any,” she said.

File picture: Pexels

A tearful Ms MacGabhann had said that if more help was not sent in soon the nursing home would have no choice but to admit the residents into hospital.

“We kept it out for so long, but this just happened. It is a virus. And when it did happen we got no help. Nobody cares- that is how we feel,” she said.

She said some of the residents have been at the centre for 10 years.

“These people are all in our nursing home for a reason. They need nursing care and we cannot provide it now,” she said.

“I really thought that services work together for the good of the people. This feels like because we are private we have to fend for ourselves,” she said.

Ballygar GP Martin Daly said the nursing home is in a state of “absolute emergency”.

“As a GP I have patients there and I view it as an absolute emergency,” he told the Roscommon Herald.

“This nursing home needs to be supported with a team of carers. If this one nurse becomes ill we will have to admit all these patients to a another hospital,” Mr Daly said.

“It is absolutely dreadful… I am completely and utterly taken aback that a nursing home providing care to vulnerable elderly people with multiple comorbidities has been unable to secure emergency help from the HSE,” he added.

- Roscommon Herald