The first wave of Covid-19 in Ireland led to 69 residents dying in just two nursing homes, newly released inspection reports reveal.
The pandemic also triggered a staffing crisis at another centre where four people died from coronavirus.
The reports, published by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa), include an inspection of the Ryevale Nursing Home in Leixlip in Co Kildare.
During an outbreak at the home in April, 98 residents tested positive for Covid-19 and 40 passed away due to confirmed or suspected coronavirus infection.
“During two weeks in mid to late April 2020, the service had struggled further to maintain nurse and carer staffing levels as a large number of staff contracted Covid-19 infection,” the report said.
In Marymount Care Centre, run by Humar Limited in Westmanstown in Lucan in Dublin, the Covid-19 outbreak was described as “devastating and a body blow to the centre”.
According to the report, 29 residents died due to Covid-19 during the outbreak.
Hiqa praised the efforts of staff both during and since the pandemic hit, saying it was “a good centre with a strong culture of person-centred care at the heart of care delivery.”
“The loss of life in the centre had taken an emotional toll of staff and management, and support services had been put in place to assist all in processing what had happened,” it said.
Staffing issue
One nursing home experienced a staffing crisis in the aftermath of a Covid-19 outbreak.
The Larissa Lodge Nursing Home, run by the Mountain Lodge Nursing Home Limited at Carnamuggagh, Letterkenny, in Co Donegal, had 33 residents at the time of the inspection last August.
The staffing issue was so acute that inspectors observed there were “no staff available to assist three residents who were served their meals in their rooms. As a result their meals had gone cold and two residents had fallen asleep with their uneaten cold dinners in front of them.”
Overall, of the 30 reports published by Hiqa on Thursday, inspectors found evidence of good practice and compliance with the regulations and standards in 10 centres.
In general, these centres were found to be meeting residents’ needs and delivering care in line with the national standards and regulations, Hiqa said.
Inspectors found evidence of non-compliance in 20 centres. On these inspections, non-compliances were identified in areas including governance and management, infection control, healthcare, premises, staffing, residents’ rights, training and staff development, medicines and pharmaceutical services, protection, risk management, fire precautions, food and nutrition, and individual assessment and care plan.
