The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has recommended a review of the Department of Health’s guidance framework on prioritisation in access to critical care in the context of COVID-19.
The Commission has made this recommendation in a written submission to the Minister for Health, to ensure this important guidance meets the highest standards of human rights and equality compliance, particularly in relation to those groups potentially most impacted.
In its observations submitted to the Minister for Health, the Commission sets out its concerns that the current guidance is ambiguous about how age and disability, for example, are to be treated in a critical care triage process, in the event that demand for critical care exceeds availability.