Sending army doctors and external HSE staff into nursing homes across the country is a waste of resources and will potentially put residents’ and staff lives at risk, according to Wexford Independent TD Verona Murphy.

Deputy Murphy said,

“to date testing has not been effective”.

“The Governments proposal to send the army and HIQA into nursing homes where no virus is present could potentially put those nursing homes at risk of infection and is a waste of PPE gear”.

“Testing kits should be provided to those nursing homes who have trained staff to conduct the testing and those kits should be collected by the HSE for analysis”.

“I sit as a proxy director on the board of a nursing home in Wexford town which hasn’t seen any Covid19 cases, and the team there are very concerned about the possibility that testing teams may themselves unknowingly transmit the virus and spread infection”.

“HIQA should review all testing procedures externally and should not needlessly enter nursing homes”.

Deputy Murphy concluded,

“all nursing homes should be provided with enough PPE to provide a safe environment for their staff and residents. The PPE that would have been used by the testing teams in COVID free nursing homes should be made available to the nursing homes directly”.