Ms Brigid Doherty:

Very early on, the HSE asked all nursing homes to link with a palliative care team in their area. Palliative care consultants became part of the Covid response team. In our report, we recommend that continues so that every nursing home is linked with a palliative care team.

Nursing homes manage end-of-life care very well as they are used to doing it, as my colleague said. We had an increased number of deaths in nursing homes, including deaths that happened more quickly than expected. It is essential that palliative care teams are involved. We recommend that they are available 24-7 to support advanced care planning and anticipatory prescribing for symptom management, which would include oxygen if required.