Covid-19 and nursing homes: ‘Will we ever be able to hug our families again?’

Surviving residents at a nursing home affected by one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country said they planned to hold a memorial service to remember fellow residents who died there.

Residents at Drumbear Lodge Nursing Home in Monaghan town where 22 residents died in a two-month outbreak of the virus told health service inspectors in June that they were grateful they had survived the disease and hoped that “life would return to normal soon” but were still following infection prevention measures as “there was still a ‘chance’ they could contract it”.

In reports on the first nursing home inspections by the Health and Quality Information Authority during the pandemic, inspectors made sure to include testimony from residents given the depth of the crisis suffered in settings where the virus has caused the most devastation.

About 1,000 nursing home residents died during the pandemic with the sector accounting for more than 55 per cent of the deaths from the virus.

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Inspection reports, compiled in the wake of outbreaks in some homes, reveal what the survivors experienced when nursing homes were in full lockdown. Their accounts are quoted, often in their own words, in sections entitled “What residents told us and what inspectors observed.”

Prayed

Nursing home residents talked about their concern for staff who were sick and how they prayed for them. They discussed the “regrettable deaths” of friends in their homes and grieved the loss of the “vibrant atmosphere” they enjoyed before coronavirus outbreaks hit in April.

Residents talked about their concern for sick staff and about the “window visits” with loved ones and children – described by one as a “godsend” as they could see their relatives again.

"It is clear to inspectors that the consequences of this outbreak had a profound negative impact on the remaining residents living in the centre, their relatives and all staff working in the centre," says the inspection report on Kilbrew Nursing Home in Ashbourne, Co Meath.

At another home, Birr Community Centre, which had a small outbreak, residents looked forward to "window visits but wondered if they would ever be able to 'hug' their families again".

“They said they ‘miss their family but understand it’s for the best’, ‘a small sacrifice’ and ‘if some good comes out of it, it will be worth it,’” the inspection report says.

Frightened

During the inspection at Drumbear, one resident told inspectors that “they stopped listening to the news on coronavirus on television and their radio as they felt it was ‘too much’ and ‘all bad news’ and that they got enough information about it from staff,” according to the Hiqa report.

One resident talked about the infection prevention and control procedures “she personally completed to stay safe”. Residents described being “worried”, “frightened” and “anxious” at times during the outbreak with waits for coronavirus test results being “especially worrying”.

The reports show that the residents enjoyed “corridor bingo” to help them feel less isolated during the virus outbreak when they were “cocooned” in their bedrooms.

Residents were delighted when they were able to leave their bedrooms again with one resident described her pleasure at seeking her “friends” again.

At Drumbear, residents said they remembered lost friends “in their prayers”.