Report on – 33rd IC Resolution 3: Time to act: Tackling epidemics and pandemics together (33IC/19/R3) – Irish Red Cross Society

Has your State/National Society/Institution incorporated the commitments contained in this resolution into the relevant strategic or operational plans?

The commitments are incorporated into:
Strategy
Operational plan

At the National level

Explanation:

• There is an existing relationship with Health Services Executive (HSE) the lead state agenda in Ireland in tackling epidemics & pandemics. Since 2007 the Irish Red Cross under the State’s Major Emergency Framework has the Health Service Executive as its linked Principal Response Agency (PRA) which allows the HSE to seek support of the Irish Red Cross in pandemic, as well as in severe weather emergencies, flooding, or nursing home transports.
• A Service Level Agreement was signed between the HSE, Red Cross, Saint John’s Ambulance, and Order of Malta relation in 2020 setting out and formalising the relationship of each related to the pandemic response.
• A reporting mechanism was established to capture activities and related costs for cost recovery purposes.
• During COVID-19, Irish Red Cross participated in training initiatives related to pandemic that were offered by HSE. These trainings included train the trainer as well as more general training in donning and doffing of PPE.
• HSE enabled access  for Red Cross volunteer to their online training materials on HSE LAN – each of our volunteers in the units had an account set up to access HSE resources.
• The Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) is an independent statutory body who set the standards for education and training for pre-hospital emergency care in Ireland. The Irish Red Cross is a PHECC Recognised CPG Service Provider, meaning we have been licensed to deliver pre-hospital emergency care services in Ireland since 2010. PHECC carry out routine in-depth assessments to ensure that the Irish Red Cross meet the standards and maintain a high level of service. Most recently in 2023Q3 , the Irish Red Cross scored 90% in the Governance Validation Framework audit which PHECC carried out. We will be building on recent part to intensifying our engagement our engagement with HSE.
• At the time of reporting, the Irish Red Cross is developing a new strategic plan 2025 to 2030. A key focus area will be deepening engagement with HSE on epidemics & pandemics together as well as building early warning and rapid response capacity in hard-to-reach, underserved and high-risk communities

Has your State/National Society/Institution been working with other partners to implement the commitments contained in this resolution?

Partner with:
Government and/or public authorities
ICRC/IFRC
Other National Red Cross or Red Crescent Societies

Examples of cooperation:

Since 2007 the Irish Red Cross under the State’s Major Emergency Framework has the Health Service Executive as its linked Principal Response Agency (PRA) which allows the HSE to seek support of the Irish Red Cross in pandemic, as well as in severe weather emergencies, flooding, or nursing home transports.  The HSE often requests the assistance of the Irish Red Cross during times of staff shortages or particularly busy times such as public holiday weekends to facilitate discharges from hospitals.

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Irish Red Cross members supported the HSE by facilitating patient transfers for non-emergency treatments such as chemotherapy, dialysis, GP & appointments for older people. They also provided assistance at vaccination centres across Ireland and delivered almost 15,000 food deliveries nationally, to isolated and vulnerable households and individuals.

More recently, Irish Red Cross provided 25 ambulances and transported 17 patients to other care Centres arising from the fire at Wexford General Hospital in March 2023 and supported following the Midleton Community Hospital flooding.

In 2023, National Ambulance Service (NAS) for the  first time they have sought the Red Cross to help in discharging people from hospital due to their staff shortages in January – 14 days straight the IRC transported people from hospitals, nursing homes.  200 calls over the fortnight.  Positive feedback from NAS.

Relevant staff and members stayed engaged with IFRC learning on COVID response as it emerged.

Have you encountered any challenges in implementing the commitments contained in this resolution?

With challenges on:
Human resources
Funding constraints
Lack of leadership support
Competing priorities
Lack of specific knowledge/expertise
Lack of capacity and/or support (technical, financial, or other)

Details about challenges:

There has been changes in the senior management roles across the organisation. This has meant a leave of induction and learning has been required before all key strategic relationships are re-focussed on. The development of the forthcoming strategic plan is an opportunity to align strategy further and identify how existing relationships can be strengthened.

Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the work and direction of your State/National Society/Institution?

Type of Impact:
Cooperation between Government/public authorities and National Society has been strengthened
Programming and operations have become more effective and efficient
Partnerships with other humanitarian actors have been created or enhanced
Training and capacity of staff and volunteers has increased (for National Societies)

Details about the impact:

The covid response resulted in Irish Red Cross having to coordinate with other units as well as HSE for improved efficiencies and effectiveness, as well as reach. The combined impact resulted in national reach. Since then Irish Red Cross has partnered on a number of occasions with Order of Malta on key events where Red Cross didn’t have sufficient capacity to crew events, but combined together organisations managed to deliver.

At the time of reporting, we are entering a partnership with Safetynet Primary Care and Crosscare to support International Protection Applicants who are homeless and living in tents in Dublin who are not catered for through existing services.  Safetynet is a medical charity that delivers quality care to those marginalized in society without access to healthcare, including homeless people, drug users and migrants. The gap in service provision has meant that there has been a dearth of accurate information getting to the IPAs and about their specific need hampering appropriate responses to vulnerable people.

In May 2024 the Irish Red Cross responded to Safetynet request assist by putting a team of volunteers on the ground to do outreach to the informal IPA encampments to support with the healthcare needs of the men, specifically by identifying those who require a support from a Safetynet nurse or GP.

There is a need now to further plug the gap in meeting the health and social care needs of rough sleeping IPAs. This will be done through developing a role in Crosscare with the skills and expertise to support Safetynet in the provision of health care , coordinate with red cross and IPAS to ensure vulnerable IPA rough sleepers have needs met as efficiently and comprehensively as possible.

During the covid pandemic, Irish Red Cross participated in training initiatives related to pandemic that were offered by HSE. These trainings included train the trainer as well as more general training in donning and doffing of PPE. HSE enabled access  for Red Cross volunteer to their online training materials on HSE LAN – each of our volunteers in the units had an account set up to access HSE resources.

Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the communities that your State/National Society/Institution serves?