Weaknesses uncovered in psychological well being companies Covid-19 technique

The procedure for mass Covid-19 tests of employees and residents lacks coordination and control

An inconsistent and premature testing strategy for Covid-19 and weaknesses related to dormitory placement in mental health services in dormitories during the critical period March-July of this year are among the key observations made in a review article published today by the Mental Health Commission highlighted (MHC).

The paper includes data and preliminary observations from the monitoring, surveillance and support of the Irish Household Mental Health Services collected over a three month monitoring period this year.

John Farrelly, chairman of the board of directors of MHC, urges all agencies responsible for protecting the most vulnerable members of society from Covid-19 to work together to empower a “fragile” health service and keep mental health facility residents ahead of a second wave of health Healthcare Protect Virus.

One of the main concerns of the commission in the critical phase earlier this year was personal testing in mental health services.

“We highlighted the significant inconsistencies in the personnel testing process, including the amount of planning, testing in progress, and delays in results. The review paper found confusion among some services about which health guidelines to follow when testing, ”Farrelly said.

The MHC found significant geographic differences in the ability to begin and complete mass testing of employees and residents.

It also said that the process for mass testing of employees and residents was at times not coordinated and monitored, and certain services appeared to be arbitrarily excluded without explanation.

The Commission considered that personal testing should not be a one-time process and that a service-wide or sampling strategy should be embedded in health policy and repeated on a regular basis.

There have also been problems with public health advice for residential mental health services and confusion among services, particularly accredited centers doing acute admissions, on which guidelines to follow.

The use of dormitory-style accommodation has been a factor in disease progression in a number of the services hardest hit by Covid-19, and the paper stressed that a more robust legal framework would help keep service users and employees safe from winter flu and any Covid protect -19 drops.

“It is important to recognize that the management and staff of the mental health services have worked hard to resolve the issues identified in this paper, and it is only fair and right that we find that their thoroughness, compassion and in in fact their courage ultimately saved many lives, ”added Farrelly. "As we have confirmed several times in the last few months, our society owes a lot to our health workers and management."

The MHC implemented a relationship-based approach to monitoring Covid-19 and created a supportive framework that resulted in the services contacting the commission regularly and proactively when problems arose.

From April 4 to July 10, the Commission monitored 181 services, including 67 inpatient units and 114 (unregulated) communal shelters, which looked after nearly 4,000 residents.

Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in residential areas were reported to the Commission by 28 out of 181 services during the monitoring period, while 47 services reported confirmed cases of Covid-19 by staff.

Overall, 31 percent (56) of all monitored mental health services had reported confirmed cases from residents and / or staff.

There were a total of 17 Covid-19-related deaths at three approved centers.

valerie.ryan@imt.ie