Just 53 nursing homes avoided Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic 

The latest report by Hiqa describes the "huge impact" the pandemic has had on nursing home residents. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland

Just 53 nursing homes across the entire country have managed to escape with no cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, with the latest report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) showing a second year of rising unexpected deaths from the sector reported to its chief inspector.

The report by the health watchdog outlines how last year was another "difficult" period for nursing homes, with 516 facilities reporting at least one confirmed Covid-19 case among staff or residents.

The report describes the "huge impact" the pandemic has had on residents. It also notes that the chief inspector was notified of 1,895 unexpected deaths among residents in nursing homes in 2021 — slightly above the figure for 2020 but more than double the 703 deaths notified in 2019.

The annual report offers a comprehensive review of all Hiqa's activities last year, and states it received 1,024 pieces of unsolicited information relating to nursing homes, a 16% reduction on the number received in the previous 12 months.

Overall, Hiqa carried out 1,863 inspections of health and social care services and received 1,638 concerns received about health and social care services, including nursing homes.

Centres for people with a disability

The pandemic also had an impact in centres for people with a disability. According to the report, 5,864 notifications were received where centres had suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 last year, and the number of unexpected deaths (94) in 2021 showed a decrease on the number in 2020 (100) but was still higher than the number of unexpected deaths reported prior to the pandemic in 2019 (79).

Hiqa also reported that access to sufficient resources in terms of staffing and suitable placements for children continued to be a challenge for Tusla last year, when the Child and Family Agency also had to deal with the "unprecedented" cyber attack.

Hiqa has called for urgent reform in the regulation of social care services, and in Ireland’s health information system to better serve the needs of people using health and social care services.

Hiqa’s chief executive Angela Fitzgerald said: “In 2021, Hiqa continued to place a focus on safeguarding and human rights, including in the national standards and guidance we develop, and in how services are regulated." 

As the regulator, we continued to monitor the safety and quality of health and social care services, responding to risk as appropriate. 

"We commenced work in the area of homecare, calling for the reform and regulation of such services to better safeguard the people receiving care and support in their own homes," Ms Fitzgerald said. 

"We also launched an online learning course to support front-line staff to implement a human rights-based approach to their work in services."