85 health workers seek to get out of direct provision

by



[ad_1]

The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) has been contacted by 85 healthcare workers who live on Provision Direct and are looking to move.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed that these asylum seekers can now apply for temporary accommodation under a health worker scheme.

Most work in nursing homes and are concerned about continuing to share rooms, bathrooms, and kitchens with other residents.

Groups working for and representing asylum seekers, including the Asylum Seekers Movement in Ireland, IRC and Sanctuary Runners, have been concerned about the spread of Covid-19 in these settings for several weeks.

On Thursday, the Health Service Executive published details of a temporary accommodation scheme for health workers and specified that those living in direct provision centers could apply.

However, many were only alerted when HSE chief operating officer Anne O’Connor tweeted about the plan on Friday morning.

HSE Chief Operating Officer Anne O’Connor photo: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland

All applicants are asked to complete a form that is available online and then return it to their manager to present on their behalf.

Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, is concerned that this process may take too long.

“It may take some time for people to contact their employer, the manager of their nursing home may be under pressure, under stress and they may be very busy, and then [after the form has been completed] it has to be returned to the HSE, “he said.

On Wednesday, IRC invited healthcare workers who want to move out of Direct Provision to provide their details via an online form, and would relay the information to the Department of Justice and the HSE.

Henderson said they relayed the details of more than 80 health workers, but IRC has since been informed that these workers have yet to apply for the scheme, and is recommending to all health workers living in Direct Provision that they do it.

Clíona Ní Cheallaigh, consultant in Infectious Diseases at St James’ Hospital, Dublin, has said that the current situation, where residents in Direct Provision centers, including healthcare workers, continue to share rooms and other living spaces, it makes her “very anxious”. .

“I imagine the transmission in that setting and I imagine that people get very sick so I can take care of them in the hospital when we don’t have working medications,” said Dr. Ní Cheallaigh.

Mary (not her real name) is a health worker who shares a room at Direct Provision, where kitchen and laundry facilities are also shared.

She works as a health care assistant in a nursing home and said that since the start of the coronavirus outbreak she has been trying to keep her distance from her fellow asylum seekers.

“I am protecting myself and them too, because where I work we have suspicious cases [of Covid-19] but so far we have not received any results, “Mary told RTÉ News.

“When I get home from work, I see the way people look at me, like they’re scared,” he added.

Mary said she had been advised not to wear her work uniform while on Direct Supply for her own safety.

However, he couldn’t contemplate quitting his job.

“It is very important and I love my work so much … I cannot wake up and say that I am not going to work because there is a virus,” Mary explained.

Mary wants to move out of her Direct Provision center and has printed and completed the form, ready to deliver to her employer.

But she is not sure where she can be moved and what will happen to her when the crisis is over.

“I’m nervous … wherever they put me, am I going to be there forever?” she asked.

“But as much as I am concerned, I think it is the best option because I think it will save people in the Direct Provision center and in the nursing home.”

Health worker Lunda Mwanza

Anne (not her real name) also works in a nursing home and lives on Direct Provision. It recently recovered from Covid-19.

He doesn’t know where he became infected, but as soon as he experienced symptoms, he called his workplace to explain that he was unable to attend and has not returned since.

Anne had to wait more than a week to get the results of her tests and at that time she had to share some facilities with other Provision Direct residents, including a bathroom and the store where they collect their food.

She said it was a very stressful time. “There are vulnerable people in the [Direct Provision] center … you could infect someone and if someone dies or something happens, then you would never forgive yourself, you know? “

Her doctor told Anne that she has now fully recovered, but she is not allowed to return to work until she has moved out of the Direct Provision center.

Both Anne and Mary contacted Sanctuary Runners about their concerns.

“Every day I get calls from healthcare workers asking what’s going on,” said Graham Clifford of Sanctuary Runners.

“Their employers or agencies tell them that they must work. We have had the Minister of Health calling more people from Direct Provision to put their shoulders behind the wheel, but at the same time health workers share rooms with others in their centers.” People are petrified, “added Clifford.

Before HSE announced the details of the temporary housing scheme for health workers, a spokesman for the Department of Justice and Equality told RTÉ News that it was “interacting with employers of residents working in the care industry in relationship with alternative accommodation, according to and when individual needs are brought to our attention. “

In fact, the Lunda Mwanza case is an example of this.

The nursing home health aide worked in Dublin and shared a room with three others at a Direct Provision facility in Newbridge, Co Kildare.

On Tuesday, Ms Mwanza was notified that she was being transferred to Galway as part of measures to alleviate overcrowding in Direct Provision during the Covid-19 crisis.

However, Ms Mwanza did not want to quit her job, so she contacted the IRC which brought her case to the attention of the Department of Justice and Equality.

“I wasn’t ready to quit my job, and I wasn’t ready to turn my back on [nursing home] residents I care for, “Mwanza told RTÉ News.

Ms. Mwanza moved to a single room with her own bathroom. “I am very happy and I am still working,” he said.

Since March 31, the Department of Justice and Equality has also introduced a series of measures to help the social distancing, protection and self-isolation of asylum seekers.

Up to 1,500 additional beds have been secured and 600 residents have been transferred from overcrowded centers.

Corresponding to RTÉ News, a department spokesperson said today “it would reduce the number of non-family members sharing a room, in all centers, to a maximum of three people.”

A spokesperson also confirmed that in the new accommodation, single people “are often in double rooms.”

However, in a statement, the Asylum Seekers Movement in Ireland said the measures “do not adequately address the situation of asylum seekers who have difficulty observing social distancing.”

This week, the Department announced that three additional off-site self-isolation facilities were being installed, bringing the total to four, located in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Dundalk.

In these facilities, each person will have their own bedroom and bathroom, and the four centers have a total capacity of 299.

A spokesperson confirmed that cocoon measures have been implemented for all residents over the age of 65.

Regarding medically vulnerable residents, the spokesperson said, “The HSE has established a dedicated email address where residents can disclose serious medical conditions directly to a physician to see if they require coverage.”



[ad_2]