Ms Laura Casey:

Absolutely. Again, it was a strong focus within the expert panel report. The Covid response teams were put in place quite quickly in 2020. They remain in place and are supporting the sector during winter this year again. At the time, they were set up on kind of a temporary footing. There is funding now and our intention is to transfer them across into permanent support teams in each community healthcare organisation, CHO, area within the HSE to provide continuing supports and, I think it came up earlier, to also drive that better connectedness of the nursing home system in general within the health and social care system.

Another development that is important is the development of ICPOP teams, the specialist teams for older persons, within the broader community enhanced programme. They are being set up now. There are 30 to be set up across the country and there are 20 or so fully resourced geriatrician-led teams. Again, they are to provide expert specialist resources – medical and across the full spectrum of multidisciplinary resources – to older people, which will include people residing within nursing homes also.