Health service lurching from crisis to crisis

Galway’s public health service continues to lurch from crisis to crisis with a surge in people waiting on trolleys the latest scandal to hit local hospitals.

New nurses figures reveal that there has been a 59% surge in the numbers of patients forced to languish on trolleys at University Hospital Galway (UHG).

The Trolley Watch figures for June come in the same month it was revealed that over 1,000 cancer patients had their outpatient appointments postponed since January at UHG because of staff shortages which led to reductions in oncology clinics.

The trolley figures also come as further 850 rheumatology outpatient appointments were postponed for several months due to staff shortages, which has led to summer clinic closures.

The INMO figures show there were a total of 670 patients on trolleys in the Emergency Department of UHG last month, the highest number for June since the union began compiling the figures in 2006.

It represents a 59% increase on the 422 who were on trolleys in ED and wards in June 2014.

In May of this year there were some 524 patients on trolleys, up by a quarter compared with the same month in 2014.

There were 67 patients on trolleys in Portiuncula in June, an increase of 12% compared with the same month in 2014.

May was even busier in the Ballinasloe ED – there were 101 patients on trolleys in May, compared with 23 in 2014, representing a 340% rise.

Fianna Fáil TD for Galway East Colm Keaveney said the figures are alarming. He said the situation has deteriorated at UHG over three years and is now “almost beyond repair”.

Deputy Keaveney added: “Every month hundreds of people are being treated in crowded emergency rooms and packed wards as the Health Minister sits back without intervening. This is causing much stress and anxiety not only for the patients themselves, who are being deprived of dignity in these exposed areas, but also for the frontline staff charged with their care.

“Over the past three years, the number of people on trolleys in UHG has jumped from 181 in 2013, to 422 in 2014 and stood at 670 last month. This is completely unacceptable.  Services in Galway have not been sufficiently expanded to deal with the increased demand. Units outside of UHG have been shut and have not been replaced, leading to a greater demand on the existing services.

“The status quo cannot be allowed to continue. Patients are being compromised and urgent action is needed. The entire health system is creaking under the strain and Emergency Departments are bearing the brunt of the burden. Additional funding and resources across the health service must be allocated to ease the pressure. Minister Varadkar needs to stop commentating and take immediate action to resolve this crisis.”

Liam Doran, INMO general secretary, said the overcrowding situation is so bad in the country’s Emergency Departments that his members are, “embarrassed to have to face patients and their families who have to suffer this indignity in our health care system”.

Mr Doran said: “Every day is the same inside Emergency Departments where elderly people on trolleys are lined up, head to toe, along small narrow corridors with insufficient nurses to care for them.”

The INMO called for more nurses to be employed and weekend discharges.  The figures were released in the same week Minister Varadkar visits Galway.

The Minister will be in UHG on Friday, and Government backbencher, Labour Party TD, Derek Nolan, says a new, bigger Emergency Department is vital to solving the problem.

Deputy Nolan said: “The Minister has stated to me in the Dáil that the current building is not fit for purpose and a new building has to be the medium to long term solution. I am looking forward to his visit so that he can finally see the reality of the situation.

“Getting a new ED is a priority for me and, more importantly, a priority for the people of Galway. A good standard of healthcare is the fundamental basis of any society and investing in infrastructure is a key component of that.”