22 on trolleys in Mayo University Hospital amid 'worrying and dangerous' ambulance turnaround times

THERE are 22 patients waiting on trolleys at Mayo University Hospital (MUH) in Castlebar today (Tuesday) according to the INMO's latest Trolley Watch figures. 

Eight of these people are waiting in the Emergency Department while 14 more are waiting in trolley on wards. 

This comes as a Mayo TD has sounded an alarm over 'worrying and dangerous' ambulance turnaround times at MUH, where patients are frequently left waiting in ambulances for over an hour. 

According to figures obtained by Sinn Féin, more than half of all ambulances have a turnaround time of more than an hour at MUH. 

Turnaround time refers to the time between an ambulance's arrival at a hospital and the crew handing over a patient.

The HSE's target turnaround time is less than 30 minutes, but less than 10 percent of turnarounds in MUH are meeting that target.

Mayo Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh described the figures as 'dangerous and worrying' and has called on Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, to address the problem. 

"This causes real hardship for patients and puts their health at risk. It also has a knock on impact on the ambulance service’s ability to respond to new emergency calls," stated Deputy Conway-Walsh

"This is being caused by overcrowded Emergency Departments and a lack of hospital beds in the system. Many beds are occupied by patients waiting to be discharged but are unable to leave MUH due to a lack home help assistance and beds in community and district hospitals in Belmullet, Ballina and Swinford.

Describing the figures as 'a wake-up call', the first-time TD called for the expansion of hospital bed capacity in Mayo and the re-opening of community beds. 

"There is also a need for urgent action to reform our National Ambulance Service where morale is low and recruitment and retention of key personnel is an identified risk," she added. 

"The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, must publish and fund a multi-annual workforce plan to double the number of paramedics and to increase both training and retention in the service. The solutions are there and change can be delivered."