A Kerry nursing home which suffered an outbreak of COVID-19 struggled to secure staff, as the HSE had taken staff for contact tracing teams.
This was shown in internal HSE correspondence during November 2020, during which time the operator of Oaklands Nursing Home in Derry, Listowel was trying to secure staff in the home which was suffering a COVID-19 outbreak.
During November, Michelle Walsh of the Listowel centre asked the HSE a number of times for extra staff, as she was having difficulty securing staff from nursing agencies and the HSE.
The centre had nine staff and 27 residents with COVID-19 at the time.
Internal correspondence between HSE staff showed that Oaklands was one of many homes in the country which were losing staff to contact tracing roles.
The HSE also tried to secure staff for the nursing home.
It added that, when contact tracing jobs were offered, staff were told they had to take up the post within a week, which had a significant impact on nursing homes.
