Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, I again put on record my complete admiration and support for all our front-line workers. In recent weeks, we have seen more than 1 million students return to school and we must pay tribute to the teaching, caretaker, administrative and special needs assistant, SNA, staff who made this possible. Unfortunately, we are seeing Covid-19 numbers on the rise again and we must ensure that our front-line health staff get all the support they need. They have been through a traumatic time in the past six months and we cannot expect them to simply react as normal should this second wave of the virus get any worse. The best way for the public to support our front-line staff is to heed the simple advice to wash our hands regularly, wear face masks when in public and in places where it is not possible to socially distance and limit social contacts. If we heed this advice, then we will suppress this horrible virus and give everyone a chance to return to a normal way of life.

I will raise several issues. Nursing homes suffered an extraordinary number of deaths during the first wave of the pandemic. In my home town of Dundalk, Dealgan House nursing home suffered, like many more. I have said before that we need to hold a full public inquiry into the circumstances of why so many residents died in nursing home settings. Such an inquiry would not be about finding scapegoats, a blame game, or an opportunity for some to use as a political football. It would simply be a mechanism to allow us to find out where the systems failed in nursing homes, what measures we need to take to ensure that it never happens again and to help those in nursing homes understand better how the system failed.

The many families who lost loved ones in nursing homes, such as in the Dealgan House nursing home, deserve answers to the many questions they have about the circumstances in which their loved ones died. It is the least that they deserve. I call once more, therefore, for a full public inquiry into the circumstances of why so many residents died from Covid-19 in nursing homes like Dealgan House nursing home. The process should be open and transparent, it should get the facts and result in the publication of real and sustainable solutions for nursing homes in future.

We cannot have a situation where questions remain unanswered. We must get to the truth and act on it to ensure that all nursing homes are safe and friendly environments that offer a real quality of life for their residents. It is important to put on the record that my own mother was a resident of the Dealgan House nursing home and that her time there was excellent and she was treated with the utmost respect and dignity.

Staying on issues regarding Covid-19, I note that more than 120 health workers have been diagnosed with the virus during the past week and according to the INMO, this figure could be even higher because asymptomatic cases are not being picked up. Beaumont Hospital has been forced to close wards after patients and staff contracted the virus. I find this alarming. My understanding is that healthcare workers are not required to quarantine for 14 days when returning from a country listed as requiring quarantine. It is also my understanding that when a positive case is identified in an acute hospital, not all staff are tested. Surely, we must examine this situation. Healthcare workers must be protected but so do their patients. How can a situation arise where a healthcare worker does not need to quarantine for 14 days when returning from a listed country? Why are all staff not tested in an acute hospital when there is a positive case?

We saw how quickly this virus could spread in hospitals and other care settings during the first wave. What is most worrying is that the number of cases among older people is starting to increase, with 21 people over the age of 65 testing positive in the past week alone. I would like to hear the Minister of State's views on healthcare workers not being required to quarantine when returning from a listed country.

On a related matter, our ability to care for critically-ill patients in intensive care units, ICUs, has been highlighted during this pandemic. When researching this aspect, I found that Germany and Italy had similar rates of Covid-19, but dramatically different death rates. In Germany, 4.7% of patients died, while in Italy that figure was 14.5%, more than three times higher. A simple explanation for this was that Germany had more ICU beds than Italy. Germany had more than 48 beds per 100,000 people, while Italy had just under seven beds per 100,000 people. If we look at Ireland, we can see that we have only six beds per 100,000. My point is that the provision of ICU beds in Ireland is inadequate. If a second wave of the pandemic hits us, I fear for the ability of our ICUs to cope. I appeal to the Minister for Health to look seriously at the situation regarding ICU capacity. We need to invest now and ensure that we are prepared for any eventuality.

While the Covid-19 pandemic has, rightly, seen most of the resources of our healthcare system devoted to combating it, we must not forget that people are suffering from other illnesses. New figures have revealed that cancer screening is down 60% for the first six months of 2020 compared with 2019. To put this in perspective, between January 2019 and June 2019, some 248,223 people were screened across the three screening programmes, while in the same period in 2020, that figure was 99,286. This is a decrease of 148,937. I find this extremely worrying.

The three cancer screening programmes, namely, BreastCheck, BowelScreen and CervicalCheck, were all shut down due to Covid-19. BreastCheck is still shut down, while the other two programmes are operating at a reduced capacity. My biggest fear is that we will see a large number of people who are suffering from cancer go undiagnosed.

As a matter of urgency, I appeal to the Government that we must immediately introduce a programme to catch up and deal with this backlog. The Minister needs to make a comprehensive statement on this matter and outline to the House what measures the Government is introducing to ensure that all three screening programmes are brought up to date.

On a related matter, more than 600,000 people are now on outpatient waiting lists. What is most alarming is the number of patients who have been waiting more than 18 months for an appointment. There are 73,101 people waiting for an orthopaedic appointment, of which 17,138 have been waiting more than 18 months. That means that more than 23% of people awaiting orthopaedic appointments are waiting more than 18 months. There are 22,456 people on the waiting list for a neurology appointment, of which 6,455 have been waiting more than 18 months. That means that 29% of people awaiting neurology appointments have been waiting more than 18 months. It is time to stop such waiting times once and for all. We must make the necessary resources available and implement the necessary changes to ensure that we have a healthcare system that is fit for purpose. The bottom line is that people should be assured that they will get the required treatment and healthcare in order for them to receive the possible treatment and outcomes. It is time that we take a long, hard look at healthcare to see what is needed to make it world class in its delivery and outcomes.

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