TWELVE people were
treated on trolleys at Letterkenny General Hospital
yesterday as patients waiting for an inpatient bed
hit a record level nationally.
Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives
Organisation (INMO) trolley watch survey showed
there were 569 people on trolleys in hospitals
around the country including a dozen in Letterkenny.
This was the second day running that the figures
reached record levels following Tuesday's figure of
511. Beaumont Hospital in Dublin had the highest
number of people on trolleys yesterday at 45.
In March 2006, the Minister for Health and Children
declared a 'national emergency' when there were 495
people on trolleys across the country.
INMO general secretary, Liam Doran said: “These
figures, which are the equivalent of the total
number of beds in a large hospital, are a direct
result of a combination of factors which include
political neglect and indifference to maintaining a
quality assured public health service." He said
there was a culture of "blind adherence to budget
limitations regardless of their impact upon patient
care" and a "lack of planning resulting in
poorly-developed, or a complete absence of
alternative services after centralisation into
overcrowded centres of excellence".
Letterkenny General Hospital yesterday said the
current delays within the Emergency Department were
the result of high numbers of people attending with
flu related illnesses as well as staff shortages.
Meanwhile, the INMO said it was imperative that the
Government reacted to the waiting list crisis "with
the same urgency, and priority, it has given to our
economic difficulties and the supposed need of our
bankers and saving our banks".
"It is time this Government looked after ordinary
people, many of them elderly, who are facing this
indignity, loss of privacy and potential
compromising of their health and well being. Saying
there is no money and we must do more with less, is
cold comfort to the 569 patients and will not
address their immediate needs or give them back
their dignity," added Mr Doran.
"The INMO is available to engage on this crisis and
we call upon the government and the HSE to
acknowledge the extent of the crisis and to respond
immediately with the positive measures detailed
above.” |
