UL academic joins health experts in examining Ireland’s response to COVID-19 pandemic
A University of Limerick academic has shared his reflections and insights on the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a panel of leading Irish and international health experts.
Dr Patrick O’Donnell, Associate Professor in UL’s School of Medicine and an Inclusion Health GP with HSE Mid West in Limerick city, was one of 11 health experts convened by the COVID-19 Evaluation Panel for its first live roundtable debate.
The COVID-19 Evaluation Panel has been tasked with compiling a comprehensive independent report on how the Government prepared for and managed the pandemic.
The roundtable featured national and international perspectives from high profile contributors, including Dr Mike Ryan, former Deputy Director of the World Health Organisation.
Dr Patrick O’Donnell, the only GP to speak at the roundtable, shared insights on how general practice was impacted by the pandemic and how the sector responded to the crisis.
Speaking at the roundtable, he said: “It was a time of great professional uncertainty but also personal concern and worry for every single person working in every single GP practice across the country.
“In hindsight, it was a time of great dynamism and collegiality where there was a real can-do attitude.”
Dr O’Donnell highlighted the localised adaptation of national and international guidance as a “huge success” and commended the adaptability of GPs on the ground, including seeking to provide continuity of care and the rapid rollout of the vaccination programme to their patients.
Dr O’Donnell, who works for HSE Mid West Social Inclusion providing care to people from marginalised groups including those in addiction and in homeless services, highlighted the exemplary work done across the region to ensure vulnerable populations were protected during the pandemic.
“We knew people really wanted to follow the national and international advice and guidance. We knew people were really keen to protect themselves and everybody else; so, worked with the National Social Inclusion Office, other GPs across the Mid-West and local Public Health specialists to understand the context of these people’s situations before the storm hit.
“We trained up multidisciplinary team members to do swabbing so that we were able to proactively go and do that in tents, under bridges and in domestic violence shelters.
“We also provided our own vaccination service by adapting what was being done in the mainstream and contextualising it and bringing it to these vulnerable people. This helped to remove the fear and mystery around vaccinations by having them delivered by people who were familiar to the service users.”
Where improvement is required, Dr O’Donnell spoke of the need to consider equity in terms of service design.
He said: “We quickly noted in the early days of the pandemic that some of our elderly patients and those with limited literacy were struggling with the systems, such as text alerts and online portals, which were designed for the middle ground.
“We became acutely aware of those information gaps and found alternative ways and routes to inform our patients.”
In his concluding remarks, Dr O’Donnell spoke of the need for additional supports for GPs and other healthcare professionals to counteract the effects of stress and burnout.
He also highlighted the key role healthcare professionals in the community could offer to support better future preparedness.
He concluded: “Public health nurses, GPs, primary care teams – they are experts in context. They know the communities they work with and are very good at reconciling with communities around what is needed in terms of adapting and trying to move things forward in a shared way.”
Ireland’s COVID-19 Evaluation is an independent, non-statutory process chaired by Professor Anne Scott.
