20 COVID-19 outbreaks in Western Trust nursing homes with 600 staff unavailable across service, says Dr. Bob Brown

Dr. Brown said 619 staff in total are unavailable and that this includes sick leave unrelated to COVID-19.

“The Trust continues to support a number of homes in the Independent Sector as well as Trust-run facilities who have been affected by staffing pressures and service delivery challenges due to COVID-19.

"Similarly to our hospitals, community staff are being affected by the transmission of COVID-19 making them unavailable to work due to COVID related absence, a position that fluctuates and can affect different areas and services at any time.

“We work in partnership with independent care home providers, homecare teams and supported living facilities, utilising a balanced approach to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and while keeping patients and clients safe within their familiar surroundings," said Dr. Brown.

He said the discharge of patients from hospitals could be a challenge this winter.

"Equally this is about ensuring flow from our hospitals when patients are no longer in need of hospital treatment, so that they can transition back to their home or care home, and to reduce pressure on hospital services, particularly during winter, a person may not always transfer to a care home of their first choice.

"This is equally the case with packages of homecare in the community, it may not always be possible to provide the full prescribed package of care, however so long as it is safe for the person to do so, we ask that families work with us to provide some care for their loved one, as a support to our teams throughout the community and our hospitals," Dr. Brown said.