The vulnerability of residents living in nursing home settings was identified early in the pandemic, and the overall national response to COVID-19 had a specific and sustained focus on supporting residents and staff in nursing homes throughout all phases of the pandemic.
I would like to clarify to the Deputy that significant structured support and guidance was provided to the nursing home sector in the early stages of the pandemic and before the specified date in the Deputy's question. This included:
• Nursing homes were a constant focus of NPHET discussions and recommendations from early March – The decisions and recommendations of the NPHET are published in full here: Minutes and agendas from meetings of the NPHET: COVID-19
• Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control (AMRIC) guidance specific to Infection Prevention and Control Guidance in nursing homes, including outbreak control, which was published on 21 March 2020. This guidance was regularly reviewed and updated many times over the forthcoming months as the disease evolved throughout the pandemic.
• Visiting restrictions in nursing homes were introduced by NPHET in March 2020, and substantial guidance for providers was developed by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), which was regularly reviewed and updated throughout the pandemic.
In addition, significant supports were provided to nursing homes, including:
• Substantial support and advice through the Departments of Public Health and Outbreak Control Teams;
• Multidisciplinary clinical support at the Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) level through 23 COVID-19 Response Teams;
• The provision of free PPE and oxygen from the HSE to private nursing homes.
• HSE Planned programme of serial testing of all staff in nursing homes.
• Access and mobilisation of HSE staff from community and acute hospitals to nursing homes.
• The HSE provided free temporary accommodation to nursing home staff.
• The Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS) was established for private and voluntary nursing homes to contribute to their preparedness, resilience, and management of COVID-19 outbreaks.
In addition to immediate actions taken, and following a recommendation by the NPHET, the COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel was appointed in May 2020 to provide immediate, real-time learnings and recommendations in light of the expected impact of COVID-19 over the following 12-18 months.
The expert panel published its report in August 2020, which identified learnings and 86 recommendations to inform the approach to the management and mitigation of risk to older persons resident in nursing homes as the pandemic evolved. Four Progress Reports and two implementation progress updates have been published since the COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel published its report in August 2020. The most recent implementation progress update was published in November 2024, which highlights that 65 of the 86 recommendations have already been implemented and mainstreamed into normal operations.
The Expert Panel recommendations have provided a guiding framework not only for the pandemic response in nursing homes but also more broadly for a wide-ranging programme of improvement and reform for older persons’ care, in residential care settings.
The Government recognises how incredibly difficult it has been for the families of nursing home residents who died during the pandemic, which has presented one of the greatest and most wide-ranging public health challenges internationally in recent history. The Government remains committed to the implementation of the Expert Panel recommendations, and work is continuing to advance the remaining recommendations.
