The
Chief Medical Officer, and any senior officials in the Department of
Health or in the NI Executive, who ordered reduced inspections of care
homes during Covid crisis must now resign
Cross-community
Socialist councillor for Enniskillen Donal O’Cofaigh responded to news
that the entire board of the Regulation and Quality Improvement
Authority (RQIA) had resigned by calling for those responsible for the
Covid scandal in care homes to follow suit and for the sector to be
brought back into public ownership.
“The
resignation of the entire RQIA board - the body meant to oversee care
homes in Northern Ireland - shows just how bad things have become. The
resignations are certainly not before time but are probably only a
precursor to another changing of the deck-chairs on the Titanic. Will
anything really change?
“The RQIA
has been failing long before the Covid-19 pandemic. For at least 18
months it has been clear that the RQIA is another shining example of
‘regulatory capture’. Some privatised care home sector operators have
been able to act with impunity when it comes to basic standards of care.
Like an iceberg, the public are only aware of a small proportion of the
difficulties in the sector - which extend across the region.
