Tag Archives: COVID-19

Which, as we all know, is currently under invasion. To wit:

All over planet Earth, the human home world, DNA-based humans are being invaded by the RNA-based SARS-CoV2. The virus, which creates a disease known as COVID-19, specializes in reprogramming human cells into zombies that manufacture and release copies of itself. Pictured here is a high magnification image of a human cell covered by attacking novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2 (orange). Epic battles where two species square off in a fight to the death are not unusual on Earth, with several just involving humans typically ongoing at any time. Even so, most humans are predicted to survive. After several years, humanity expects to win this war — but only after millions of humans have died and trillions of coronaviruses have been destroyed.

(Image: NIAID)

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Secretary General of the irish Hospital Consultants Association Martin Varley speaking at the Covid 19 Committee in the dail

This morning.

In his opening statement to the Dáil Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, Martin Varley, Secretary General of the IHCA, said there has been a “very low” private hospital bed capacity occupancy at around one third on average.

Mr Varley said the private hospital contract is prohibiting the provision of urgent care required by patients with non-Covid illnesses.

He said this is leading to the accumulation on waiting lists of a large number of patients who require urgent care.

Mr Varley warned there is now the additional risk that these patients will deteriorate clinically and will increasingly evolve into emergency cases if they are not treated without delay.

He called for the contract with private hospitals to be brought to an end and the savings achieved utilised to put increased capacity in place for public hospitals.

Private hospital deal ‘poor value for money’ – Irish Hospital Consultants Association (RTÉ)

Earlier…

Top: Larry Goodman (left) and Denis O’Brien

This morning.

From 11am until 1pm in the Dáil.

The Special Committee on Covid-19 Response will discuss the State’s renting of private hospitals. The discussion will continue from 2pm until 4pm.

From 4.30pm until 6.30pm, it will discuss the travel restrictions.

See the committee’s schedule here

Watch live here or in the link above

Previously: €44,000 Paid Per Private Bed In April

Cancel Culture

 

CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland Tadhg Daly and Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd in the Dáil today at the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

This afternoon.

At the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response in the Dáil.

Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd raised with CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland Tadhg Daly the millions of euro in profits made by nursing homes; and how just 123 of 581 nursing homes were fully compliant with HIQA.

Initially, Mr O’Dowd went through a timeline of correspondence and contact between the NHI and the Department of Health during the coronavirus crisis, including a conference call Mr O’Dowd claimed took place with the Minister for Health Simon Harris on March 19.

Mr Daly said he didn’t believe such a conference call with the minister took place. He said the first meeting with the minister took place on March 30. Mr O’Dowd said his information is that the conference call with the minister did take place on March 19.

Mr O’Dowd told the committee that the correspondence shows that “nobody from NPHET asked Nursing Home Ireland not to tell families where the cases or clusters were”, a claim reported on the front page of the Business Post at the weekend.

The Fine Gael TD said:

“The key point I’m making to you is your statement that ‘key State organisations left the nursing home sector and its residents isolated’ is patently and obviously untrue.”

He added:

“You’ve 12 directors, all businessmen and businesswomen. I looked at their accounts and there’s some very wealthy companies represented among your directors who are very fine people in every respect. €23.3million was a profit in the last accounting year for eight of those directors and for the other directors, I can’t get the accounts because they’re a part of other companies.

“So would it be fair to say that the nursing home sector is a privately funded organisation and has a lot of money for buying things like PPE for doing test, for paying for staff accommodation, for paying for extra staff in this crisis?”

Mr Daly said: “Yes, absolutely…”

Asked later what funds NHI spend additionally to the normal nursing homes funds to get PPE, to pay for testing and extra staff, Mr Daly said:

“It runs into the millions and I can get those figures for you.”

Mr O’Dowd argued:

“You were recompensed… and I’m not saying that’s not a bad thing. You got the money back that you spent. That’s the point I’m making. To say that you were left isolated is not a fact.”

He added:

“In the last public report on your nursing homes, how many of them were compliant fully with HIQA regulations? Of the 581 homes, how many were fully compliant?”

Mr Daly said he didn’t know.

Mr O’Dowd said:

“Well I have…the fact is that 123 only, of the 581 nursing homes, public, private, not-for-profit, were fully compliant. And of those, governance and management, there was a failure under that governance and management regulation of 32%. Residents rights failure of 23% non-compliance. Risk management 22%. And infection control 18%.”

At the end of his contribution, Mr O’Dowd referenced an article in The Guardian about Hong Kong, saying:

“The point is you are making the point that the State, or the HSE or the minister or department didn’t assist you: I believe that you did and I believe you could have done a lot more for yourself and you didn’t do that.

“…. I am going to say this as loud as I can. And it is exceptionally clear and it is something that I say all my life. That the care of old people, older people in nursing homes is not acceptable. That the nursing home private sector is not compliant in the main, right across. That they are very wealthy companies who complain that the taxpayer isn’t doing enough for them.

“I want to say exceptionally clearly  that we need a total change in the way the care of older people is looked at….We’ve to stop this game of blaming everybody and to accept the facts: the facts are that we’re not doing enough. We’ve never done enough and unless things change now, we’re going to go down the same road…

“…In Hong Kong, there is no death certificate in all of Hong Kong for one person from a nursing home who had Covid-19 because nobody died there. Nobody died there. And I just get so angry at this.

“And I think, sorry Mr Chairman, I’ve 14 seconds left. Let me say that I think that we need to move forward together but we must establish the facts and the truth is the truth and the truth will out. We have to change absolutely, radically, everything to do with older people.”

Watch live here

Previously: Meanwhile In The Dáil

UPDATE:

UPDATE:

Um.

Last night.

On RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live.

The broadcaster recreated a trip to a hairdressers, a dentist and an Irish pub, the latter via Fair City’s set of McCoy’s, to show what the three settings would be like amid Covid-19 measures.

The programming will continue until morale improves.

Watch back in full here