Results 7,741-7,760 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Registration of Deaths (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: 444. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if an immediate review will be carried out of the registration of deaths to reduce the time period for registration of deaths in order to provide more accurate information in a timely manner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17321/20]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: 750. To ask the Minister for Health if a social media campaign on Covid-19 specifically aimed at young persons will be designed and implemented by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17318/20]

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: I thank all the speakers this morning for all the submissions they already have made and for the work that has been done over the last four months in particular. I wish to raise an issue from the HSE report about the breakdown of healthcare workers. One of the concerning figures is of the 8,260 workers - it is now up slightly from 8,260 - some 2,878 of those identified with Covid-19 had...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: The figure of 2,878 is quite high. Is Mr. Donnelly aware of whether some of those people had requested not to be assigned to the particular roles they were asked to take on?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: I am aware of two or three cases where someone who had been through treatment for cancer had returned to work in the HSE, yet was required to work on the front line. Did the witnesses come across cases of people who had medical conditions and clearly indicated to management that it was inappropriate for them to be on the front line, but management ignored their requests to be assigned to...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: Where did the policy come from? Did it come from HSE management or the Department of Health?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: I will move on to the wearing of face masks. I received quite a number of emails at a very early stage from people on the front line who wanted to wear face masks, but it appears that a decision was taken at a local level, by individual medical units, nursing homes or whatever, that masks were not required. Did the witnesses hear from people who had made requests that those in charge of a...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: I will move on to consider how we go forward. Over the nearly six years from December 2014 to now, the number of people working full-time in the HSE, whole-time equivalents, has gone from 103,000 to 123,000, which is an increase of 20,000 staff members. That increase obviously applies across all areas, including management, administration, care assistants, nurses and doctors. Where should...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: What kind of numbers are we talking about over the next three years in real terms? How can 5,000 positions be filled over a three-year time period? That is the kind of time period we are talking about.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their attendance.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: I presume I am.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their presentations and the work they are doing. I will refer to the report of the profile of Covid-19 cases in healthcare workers in Ireland. On looking at the report, I note that 58.5% of the 88,260 healthcare workers who were identified as positive for Covid were in the HSE east region. While there is a larger number of healthcare workers in that area, in...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: We have seen the breakdown of numbers on nursing homes but is there a similar breakdown for hospitals where there was a higher incidence compared to other hospitals of a similar size throughout the country?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: Has any effort been made to identify where errors were made as a result of which healthcare workers contracted Covid-19? What measures now need to be put in place to make sure there is no reoccurrence? We have a lot of information and data. Have we analysed those data? For instance, some healthcare facilities, including 56% of nursing homes, had no positive cases of Covid, while many...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: Of the 8,260 workers who were diagnosed with Covid, a number were associated with a location in which there had been an outbreak. Some 4,634 contracted Covid independent of an outbreak. Has the source of these 4,634 infections been identified? Page 6 of the report says that 4,634 were not linked to an outbreak.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: Will Dr. Cuddihy give me a more detailed breakdown of that 4,634?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: That would be helpful because it is not in the report.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: I will again raise an issue I raised this morning. It relates to the number of healthcare workers who have been identified as having Covid. Some 2,878 of these had an underlying medical condition. That figure is very high. Where a person had an underlying health problem, were serious efforts made to ensure they were not put at risk? Was a protocol in this regard available to each and...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: When was that devised or made available to the people in charge of the various facilities around the country, be it hospitals, healthcare facilities or congregated settings?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Infection Rate among Healthcare Workers (Resumed) (21 Jul 2020)

Colm Burke: Does Dr. Sisson think more could have been done, in the sense that 2,878 people identified with Covid were people with underlying medical conditions?