RTÉ have released a harrowing teaser trailer for their investigation into the standard of care homes throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, airing tonight.
This past year, people around the world have been enduring the worst travesty of our lifetime, as millions of people lost their lives due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a selfish and unrelenting disease which has taken so, so much from us.
In Ireland, as well as in many other countries, the nursing homes were one of the first institutions to be hit hard by Covid-19.
During the first wave of Covid-19 in March and April 2020, residents in nursing homes were 28 times more likely to contract the virus than those living in the community. Nearly 1,000 of these residents died, that was more than half of all covid-related deaths at the time. Following the first wave, Micheál Martin, acknowledged the need to learn from what happened in nursing homes in the early days of covid.
With nursing homes hit badly again when the third wave of the pandemic struck in January and February this year, some were quickly overwhelmed. Agency care staff brought in to assist in Cahercalla Nursing Home, Co. Clare raised concerns with the health watchdog HIQA about the standards of care being provided in the home, including covid positive and covid negative residents placed in the same areas.
As a result of the concerns raised HIQA carried out an inspection. One whistleblower who spoke to RTÉ Investigates recounted being told not to answer a resident’s call when the bell was rung, “she just said to me don’t go down if he rings the bell, just ignore the bell”.
Carers noticed that a number of residents had skin sores, including a woman who had clearly visible sores on her back and hand, “she asked me to scratch her back and I lifted up her vest there were two huge scabs on her back and they were so sore”. A number of days later an outbreak of scabies was reported in the nursing home.
As the third wave unfolded, a whistleblower who cared for Margaret Kelleher in Ballynoe Nursing Home emailed the HSE “I begged for intervention to try and save lives, I literally begged them”.
21 residents in Ballynoe Nursing Home died from covid in January and February. Margaret Kelleher’s daughter, Teresa told RTÉ Investigates “that is a staggering amount in a 51-bed nursing home. We really need answers into why did it get so bad, why was the death rate so high? We need the answers for ourselves but also to prevent it happening elsewhere”.
On RTÉ Prime Time tonight at 9:35pm on RTÉ One, RTÉ Investigates speaks to whistleblowers and family members of those whose loved ones died in nursing homes, including Cahercalla in Ennis, Co. Clare and CareChoice, Ballynoe in Co. Cork during the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in January and February 2021.
Watch the harrowing trailer below;
