Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1061. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which he has received submissions from a group (details supplied) with particular reference to the efforts of such carers throughout the Covid-19 outbreak; if any particular issues have been raised with reference to staffing levels in public or private nursing homes or other settings in which patients were deemed to be at high-risk during the Covid-19 pandemic; his views on whether particular attention needs to be paid to specific areas in the aftermath of the pandemic with a view to optimising the level of protection for staff and patients throughout the public and private sectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41710/21]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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During the last year, both Minister Donnelly and I, and officials from my Department, have met with a number of groups that advocate for the interests of older people and residents of nursing homes and long-term residential care facilities. I met with representatives from the group referred to by the Deputy on 12 July this year, with members of bereaved families in attendance, and have subsequently corresponded with the Group.

The Nursing Homes Expert Panel was established, on foot of a NPHET recommendation, to examine the complex issues surrounding the management of COVID-19 among this particularly vulnerable cohort. The Expert Panel report, which was published in August 2020, has added further to our knowledge and learning. This report clearly outlines the key protective measures that we must ensure are in place across our nursing homes. These actions are based on learning from our own and the international experience of COVID-19. The report also recommends additional analysis and examination of the relevant public health and other data sets in order that further causal and protective factors for COVID-19 clusters are identified.

Work to progress the recommendations of the Expert Panel report, particularly those recommendations requiring a priority focus in the response to COVID-19, is ongoing across health agencies and stakeholders. The recommendations of the report are varied and complex, are short, medium,and longer-term in nature, and require a mix of ongoing operational response to COVID-19 and a longer-term strategic reform. Those strategic reforms are, by their nature, complex and relate to whole of system issues. Many of the short- and medium-term recommendations have already been implemented.

At a broader level, there has been significant and ongoing consideration of this impact since the start of the pandemic, with various examinations and development of reports with a focus on COVID-19, its impact on nursing homes and the pandemic learnings that can inform future policy, regulation and the model of care for older persons. The significant examination undertaken by the Expert Panel provides important learning and a framework for enhancing older persons services both in the short and long-term and this work is progressing.

The progression of the safe staffing framework in nursing homes is included in the recommendations of the Expert Panel report. Phase 3 of the Safe Staffing and Skill Mix Framework commenced in August 2020. This includes three distinct stages, the first of which will focus on nursing homes. This is a unique stage of the framework development as it is the first time it will span across public, private, and voluntary care settings. A National Taskforce, with representation from key stakeholders and agencies, has been established to develop a Framework for safe staffing and skill mix in long-term residential care settings for older persons. This important programme of work is progressing very well and it is anticipated that pilot testing of a model of staffing will commence with a baseline data collection in each of the pilot sites in the coming month.