Trolley crisis at Mayo University Hospital is leading to ‘unsafe’ conditions

Patients at Mayo University Hospital are being treated in a ‘completely unsafe’ environment, according to Castlebar based councillor, Harry Barrett.

The Independent councillor made his comments yesterday (Monday) after it was revealed by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) that 32 patients had been admitted to hospital without a bed and were waiting on trolleys. Fifteen patients were on trolleys in the emergency department while seventeen were on trolleys in wards elsewhere.

Cllr Barrett said that the people of the county were now ‘at their wits end’ due to the problems they are facing when they attend at the hospital.

“There are 32 people currently on trolleys waiting for treatment. Families have contacted me to say this situation is completely unsafe. They are seeing loved ones left for hours on trolleys, in pain and distress, waiting for a bed and proper medical care.

“Constituents are very clear with me. This is not just about discomfort. It is about serious risk to life. Research shows that delays like this have deadly consequences. One in every 82 people who wait too long to be admitted, waiting more than 6 to 8 hours, will die as a direct result of delays in getting specialist care. People in Mayo are asking how this can be allowed to happen in our main hospital,” said Cllr Barrett, who is calling on both Ministers based in Mayo (Dara Calleary and Alan Dillon) to step in immediately and to raise this directly with the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

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Urgent action needed

“WHAT is happening in our Emergency Department cannot be dismissed as business as usual. These are unsafe conditions and they need urgent action.

“Families want to see real measures taken now. That means extra staff, beds opened without delay, and proper planning so that no patient is left on a trolley for hours on end.

“This is about ordinary people who get sick and expect to be looked after when they come through the doors of their local hospital. They deserve safety, dignity and timely care. The people of Mayo are entitled to better than this,” added Cllr Barrett.

Figures released by the INMO on Monday showed that nationally 759 patients were admitted to hospital without a bed.

Commenting on the Trolley Watch figures, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “Our hospitals are incredibly busy with patients on trolleys across most hospital sites. The Health Service Executive must confirm that it is taking all steps to ensure that the provision of safe emergency care is currently the priority in the system. With activity levels as high as they are, we assume that all non-urgent elective activity has been cancelled for the coming week.

Surge beds

“AS well as over 759 patients on trolleys, there are a high number of patients on so-called surge beds, according to the HSE’s own data. This is masking the true scale of overcrowding in our hospitals. Patients being treated in these unstaffed areas are often without access to basic equipment such as oxygen and suction in totally inappropriate spaces within our hospitals.

“The HSE needs to be upfront with the public and its workforce this week and explain what measures it is taking to curb the worst of this entirely predictable overcrowding crisis, particularly in the West, North-West, Mid-West and South-West.”