A local nursing home operator says the sector needs area by area guidelines in order to determine if they can stay open to visitors.
Sandra Farrell of Ormond Healthcare, which runs Patterson’s Nursing Home in Roscrea, says they’re continuing to allow visitors in by adhering to strict virus containment measures.
However, some nursing homes in the county have reintroduced such visitor bans due to the growth of the virus in recent weeks.
Sandra says regional advice is needed to allow nursing homes to operate safely while still allowing for some visitors.
“For instance when we had the outbreak in Golden – if we had to close all Tipperary nursing homes because of that? That’s just unrealistic.”
“I believe it should be area by area. In Roscrea here we’re 60 kilometres away from Golden. I know my staff are all local, the residents are local, the families are local.”
“I think what NPHET needs to do now is go another step forward and to actually say these are the guidelines – if there’s a community spike in your area this is automatically what you have to do.”
