Latest news with #EddieLynch
Glasgow Times
5 days ago
- Health
- Glasgow Times
NI chief medical officer rejects claim of ‘air of unreality' at pandemic's start
Sir Michael McBride said he 'failed to understand' the comments made by Eddie Lynch, the former commissioner for older people for Northern Ireland. The exchange came during Sir Michael's final appearance at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Thursday. The long-running inquiry is currently looking at adult and residential care as part of its scrutiny of the response to the pandemic. It was put to Sir Michael that during a meeting in March 2020, Mr Lynch felt there was an 'an air of unreality', that scenes from Italy of old people dying, 'won't happen here'. Sir Michael said: 'I fail to understand those comments if I'm really honest.' He said it related to a meeting on March 13, which he described as 'part of a series of meetings which reflected the seriousness of the impending situation'. 'So in that series of meetings that day, I met with all the trade unions, I met with primary care representatives and secondary care representatives. 'I met with the Department of Communities and Local Government, and explained the evolving situation and the seriousness of this. 'This was about communicating to the system in Northern Ireland, not just health and social care, but right across other government departments as well, what we were about to face into. 'So I really don't understand any sense of unreality or lack of urgency.' Eddie Lynch, former commissioner for older people for Northern Ireland. He said he met Health and Social Care on February 11 and asked them to draw up plans for a surge, which he said he was 'fully anticipating', and had been attending meetings of Cobra, with the UK Government and Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies). 'There was no sense of unreality in terms of what we were facing into at all,' he said. 'Within days, we had introduced, on March 16, social distancing, working from home, advising people not to go to pubs and restaurants. 'So I really don't understand that reflection.' Sir Michael also spoke about a shortage of Covid tests. It was put to him that in the first interim protocol for testing, which came out on March 19, frontline clinical workers were included in the priority for being tested, but not care home workers. He said: 'Frankly, we didn't have enough tests. It was simply that. 'We had just moved from the contain to the delay phase on March 12. 'We had stopped contact tracing because we didn't have enough tests to continue that, and we had to prioritise what tests we had for those people who were in hospital, either requiring ventilation like pneumonia. 'The management tried to protect individuals who may have been in contact with them in hospital, and to ensure that we were able to support those staff who were providing care for them, so it wasn't anything other than the fact we simply did not have the tests that we needed.' Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett thanked Sir Michael for his evidence. 'Whatever findings I make, I don't think anybody disputes how much pressure you and your colleagues were under and the efforts you went to to try and protect as many people as possible. 'So thank you very much for what you did, and thank you very much for your help with the inquiry.'
Western Telegraph
5 days ago
- Health
- Western Telegraph
NI chief medical officer rejects claim of ‘air of unreality' at pandemic's start
Sir Michael McBride said he 'failed to understand' the comments made by Eddie Lynch, the former commissioner for older people for Northern Ireland. The exchange came during Sir Michael's final appearance at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Thursday. The long-running inquiry is currently looking at adult and residential care as part of its scrutiny of the response to the pandemic. It was put to Sir Michael that during a meeting in March 2020, Mr Lynch felt there was an 'an air of unreality', that scenes from Italy of old people dying, 'won't happen here'. Sir Michael said: 'I fail to understand those comments if I'm really honest.' He said it related to a meeting on March 13, which he described as 'part of a series of meetings which reflected the seriousness of the impending situation'. 'So in that series of meetings that day, I met with all the trade unions, I met with primary care representatives and secondary care representatives. 'I met with the Department of Communities and Local Government, and explained the evolving situation and the seriousness of this. 'This was about communicating to the system in Northern Ireland, not just health and social care, but right across other government departments as well, what we were about to face into. 'So I really don't understand any sense of unreality or lack of urgency.' Eddie Lynch, former commissioner for older people for Northern Ireland. He said he met Health and Social Care on February 11 and asked them to draw up plans for a surge, which he said he was 'fully anticipating', and had been attending meetings of Cobra, with the UK Government and Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies). 'There was no sense of unreality in terms of what we were facing into at all,' he said. 'Within days, we had introduced, on March 16, social distancing, working from home, advising people not to go to pubs and restaurants. 'So I really don't understand that reflection.' Sir Michael also spoke about a shortage of Covid tests. It was put to him that in the first interim protocol for testing, which came out on March 19, frontline clinical workers were included in the priority for being tested, but not care home workers. He said: 'Frankly, we didn't have enough tests. It was simply that. 'We had just moved from the contain to the delay phase on March 12. 'We had stopped contact tracing because we didn't have enough tests to continue that, and we had to prioritise what tests we had for those people who were in hospital, either requiring ventilation like pneumonia. 'The management tried to protect individuals who may have been in contact with them in hospital, and to ensure that we were able to support those staff who were providing care for them, so it wasn't anything other than the fact we simply did not have the tests that we needed.' Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett thanked Sir Michael for his evidence. 'Whatever findings I make, I don't think anybody disputes how much pressure you and your colleagues were under and the efforts you went to to try and protect as many people as possible. 'So thank you very much for what you did, and thank you very much for your help with the inquiry.'
The Independent
5 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
NI chief medical officer rejects claim of ‘air of unreality' at pandemic's start
Northern Ireland's chief medical officer has rejected a claim that there was an 'air of unreality' at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Sir Michael McBride said he 'failed to understand' the comments made by Eddie Lynch, the former commissioner for older people for Northern Ireland. The exchange came during Sir Michael's final appearance at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Thursday. The long-running inquiry is currently looking at adult and residential care as part of its scrutiny of the response to the pandemic. It was put to Sir Michael that during a meeting in March 2020, Mr Lynch felt there was an 'an air of unreality', that scenes from Italy of old people dying, 'won't happen here'. Sir Michael said: 'I fail to understand those comments if I'm really honest.' He said it related to a meeting on March 13, which he described as 'part of a series of meetings which reflected the seriousness of the impending situation'. 'So in that series of meetings that day, I met with all the trade unions, I met with primary care representatives and secondary care representatives. 'I met with the Department of Communities and Local Government, and explained the evolving situation and the seriousness of this. 'This was about communicating to the system in Northern Ireland, not just health and social care, but right across other government departments as well, what we were about to face into. 'So I really don't understand any sense of unreality or lack of urgency.' He said he met Health and Social Care on February 11 and asked them to draw up plans for a surge, which he said he was 'fully anticipating', and had been attending meetings of Cobra, with the UK Government and Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies). 'There was no sense of unreality in terms of what we were facing into at all,' he said. 'Within days, we had introduced, on March 16, social distancing, working from home, advising people not to go to pubs and restaurants. 'So I really don't understand that reflection.' Sir Michael also spoke about a shortage of Covid tests. It was put to him that in the first interim protocol for testing, which came out on March 19, frontline clinical workers were included in the priority for being tested, but not care home workers. He said: 'Frankly, we didn't have enough tests. It was simply that. 'We had just moved from the contain to the delay phase on March 12. 'We had stopped contact tracing because we didn't have enough tests to continue that, and we had to prioritise what tests we had for those people who were in hospital, either requiring ventilation like pneumonia. 'The management tried to protect individuals who may have been in contact with them in hospital, and to ensure that we were able to support those staff who were providing care for them, so it wasn't anything other than the fact we simply did not have the tests that we needed.' Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett thanked Sir Michael for his evidence. 'Whatever findings I make, I don't think anybody disputes how much pressure you and your colleagues were under and the efforts you went to to try and protect as many people as possible. 'So thank you very much for what you did, and thank you very much for your help with the inquiry.'
BBC News
6 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Covid Inquiry: 'Lessons can be learned' from care home lockdowns
Locking down care homes to protect residents from Covid was "one of the most difficult decisions" that had to be made throughout the pandemic, Northern Ireland's former commissioner for older people has told the UK Covid Lynch said his office heard distressing stories from families about loved ones whose conditions deteriorated due to not receiving family said he hoped lessons can be learned and that concrete changes can be made to how care homes will cope in the case of a future inquiry, sitting in London, is examining the impact of the pandemic on social care including people who lived in care homes and those receiving domiciliary care at home. Visitor ban consequences 'more serious than we initially expected' "I was aware of the impact that this was going to have on people, but at that stage it seemed like people's right to protect their lives trumped everything else," Mr Lynch told the inquiry that he had supported the visiting policy following advice from experts that fewer people going in and out of care homes from the community would reduce the risk for people in those care home he said that after a period of time he realised that the negative side of that policy was "very serious and probably more serious than we initially expected"."It was clear to me that for many older people that that system meant that they didn't see family members face to face for the last weeks or months of their lives."It was a very awful position to be in and I think in the future we need to weigh up the risk associated with contracting the virus and putting in place measures that allows continued social contact and direct human contact with family members," he added. Mr Lynch said that in those early stages of the pandemic care homes were in the firing line and it felt greater attention was being given to hospitals instead of care homes, when the care homes were clearly "more vulnerable". In March 2020, 23% of the population in Northern Ireland were older people, which is defined as those aged 60 years and former commissioner said from the outset of the pandemic he reminded officials that everyone needed to stop referring to care homes as buildings but instead as people's inquiry is examining how Northern Ireland dealt with personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and tracing the infection, discharge policy and Lynch said that in many of these areas "Northern Ireland played catch up" and testing could have been introduced at an earlier stage, but instead there was a feeling of "push back."He said, within the first couple of months, they knew the "devastating impact" the pandemic was having on care told the inquiry that experts were telling him that testing and tracing the virus was "critical" for care homes to get a handle on it, but that he felt testing was "far too slow in coming". Testing 'could have been done weeks earlier' When a testing programme was introduced by the Department of Health which became regular, Mr Lynch said he had " deep frustration" at the speed of that and what he saw was "a lack of urgency about how important that was in response to the pandemic".Mr Lynch claimed testing could have been introduced and ramped up earlier and that while resources may have been one of the issues, he did not believe it was entirely about said in the early stages there did not seem to be "a huge appetite" for testing, particularly in care home settings and that the roll out of testing could have been done weeks Lynch told the inquiry that the weaknesses of the social care sector for older people were "horribly exposed at the outset of the pandemic".He said that the pandemic had a devastating impact on older people and those with underlying health care problems who were at most risk."The nature of the virus was difficult to control once it got into those settings, " Mr Lynch asked about draft guidance that was issued by the DOH on 16 March 2020, Mr Lynch said the guidance was limited and there was little opportunity for others to influence it.
