INO: Hospital beds crisis will worsen

21/10/2004 - 17:45:57
The crisis in hospital accident and emergency wards is likely to get a lot worse, the country’s largest nursing union warned tonight.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said there were still around 136 people awaiting beds this evening, although the figure had dropped from yesterday’s high.

But the organisation stressed this could be a temporary lull in the crisis, with increased admissions expected over the bank holiday weekend and if the weather worsens.

Liam Doran, general secretary of the INO, said nurses were bracing themselves as the situation was likely to worsen.

“Staff at Accident and Emergency Wards do not relish bank holiday weekends,” he said.

“Thing always get busier because there are more accidents, bumps and bruises and a lot more alcohol-related problems.”

Mr Doran also said the crisis in A&E wards is likely to deepen as winter takes hold.

“We are not near the busiest time yet,” he said.

“Capacities reach their peak in late November, December, January and February. That is when the pressure on A&E services is at its highest.

“We have damp and cold weather and people are more likely to fall sick or to suffer slips and falls leading to broken limbs.

“Things are likely to get much worse.”

Tánaiste Mary Harney earlier told the Dáil that no extra money would be made available in the current year to deal with the problems in the health service.

However, the Minister for Health said she was attempting to tackle the crisis and would be bringing a proposal to the cabinet in the near future.

The INO said there were 98 patients on trolleys in the Eastern region, including Dublin, with 38 spread around the rest of the country’s hospitals.

As the crisis worsened over the last week waiting times spiralled with some patients lying on trolleys in hospital corridors for four or five days.

There were claims made that one patient in Dublin’s Mater Hospital had been treated in the staff canteen today, while another was left lying across two chairs on a drip.

The Government has called the A&E crisis a long-term problem.

The Department of Health has confirmed it is working to free up beds which are blocked by patients who are fit to be discharged into long-term care in nursing homes or other facilities.

It is estimated that between 300 and 400 beds in the Dublin area alone are being taken up by patients who have already been treated.

The Tánaiste met with the chief executives of the five main Dublin hospitals and asked them for statistics on the number of beds that could be freed up if there was alternative long-term care available.

The Mater Hospital has already confirmed that it has 77 long-stay patients fit for discharge from the wards if step-down facilities were available for them.