Connacht Tribune
Nursing home’s measures bring outside contact closer to reality
Maureen Hernon and Mary Bell settle in to loungers in the oratory of St Mary’s Nursing Home in Shantalla in the city.
It’s 10.30 on Friday morning of the week when phase one of lockdown restrictions were eased – and both women, residents of the home, are waiting to be entertained.
They’re dressed to the nines and immaculately turned out – St Mary’s healthcare assistants have had to up-skill in hairdressing since Coronavirus reached Ireland.
A private audience with musician Val McNicholas, a Swinford native who now lives in Taylor’s Hill, awaits the glamorous duo.
“Maureen,” shouts Val through a glass partition which has new technology that facilitates safe, socially distant visiting.
“This one’s for you, í nGaeilge,” he says, before strumming his guitar and singing a rendition of Ave Maria in Irish for Maureen, a native speaker.
Mary, from Mayo, and Maureen from Furbo, beam when the music starts. It brings back memories of weekly Monday sessions they used to enjoy before visiting was curtailed due to fears of Covid-19 reaching the home.
“We’d get the staff and residents to sing as well. Anything can happen,” says Val of the sessions that can now safely resume. “We tell stories and tell poems and we get the residents and staff to do their party piece as well. They love it, they light up.”
Visitor restrictions have been in place due to Covid-19 for nine weeks, but the home has now converted its small chapel into a safe space where family and performers like Val can visit.
A glass wall separates Mary, Maureen and St Mary’s staff, Carol Preisler, Director of Operations, Linda Cunningham, and Mary Carpenter, Director of Nursing, from Val and the Connacht Tribune.
There are two gaps in the glass, fitted with Melapholes – a technology that allows visitors and residents to interact safely, face-to-face. It’s similar to technology used in prison visiting rooms but the comparison ends there.
“They (Melapholes) won’t let the virus through and they amplify the sound, for people who have difficulty hearing,” explains Ms Carpenter. “We were long enough having no visitors,” she adds.
Ms Priesler agrees it’s a welcome addition. “It’s so families aren’t outside, looking in bedroom windows. At least here they can sit down, and have a chat, and it’s more comfortable, there’s more space.
“We started it the last couple of days, and we’re doing it on a booking basis, so that there is social distancing for the people coming in, and so that there is staff available to be with the residents on this side. It’s worked out really well.”
Jack Finnerty, a local craftsman, installed it. Before this, residents and families kept in touch through letters and more modern modes, but Skype and teleconferencing isn’t for everyone. “This is simpler and it’s better,” says Ms Priesler.
Covid-19 has ravaged some nursing homes, particularly in Dublin, but St Mary’s hasn’t lost any residents to the virus – Ms Carpenter credits that to having time, compared with the East coast, to up-skill and put policy and procedures in place.
“This is a community, this is a home but all of a sudden we’d to flip into almost becoming an acute hospital. It was very unusual, that’s not what we’re trained for. We had time; if we got a case now – hopefully we won’t – but we’d be ready and trained,” she says.
Meanwhile, the residents are enjoying the concert and conversation.
Maureen Hernon, a keen gardener, was eager to chat with the Connacht Tribune.
“I’m from Furbo . . . I was born in Barna, and I worked in the telephone exchange in Galway, and then I retired from there,” she says.
Mary Bell adds: “I’m from Mayo originally, from Hollymount and I grew up on a farm. I’ve been in Galway in recent times.”
Both agree Val’s music and the new visitor arrangements are great.
Val’s sister, a nun and former music teacher who has Alzheimer’s, is a resident in the home and many of the weekly performers who volunteer their time, have connections with St Mary’s.
“It’s our giving back, if you like,” says Val.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
