Hospital group has over 400 absent due to Covid

Galway’s public health services have become paralysed in the pandemic as Covid-19 continues to push local hospitals to the brink.

Galway University Hospitals – Merlin Park and UHG – had confirmed it was extending the postponement of procedures announced last week, and this week Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe postponed surgeries there.

On Monday, Saolta University Healthcare Group said that more than 400 staff at UHG were unavailable for work due to Covid-19.

This was causing backlogs in the Emergency Department, where dozens of patients were on trolleys.

Portiuncula and Merlin Park were also experiencing shortages and have redeployed staff to urgent care.

It comes as tighter visitor restrictions have been imposed at the three hospitals. And Covid-19 testing capacity was stretched to the limit, with people still complaining in the past week that they had to wait a long time for, or could not secure, a PCR test in Galway.

On Monday, UHG said it was dealing with Covid-19 outbreaks on two wards, and four more wards were treating patients with Covid-19. Some 71 patients were being treated in UHG, with three in ICU.

“The pressure on bed capacity means that patients are facing long waiting times to be admitted from the Emergency Department to a bed on a ward. The hospital acknowledges that these delays are very difficult for patients and their families and apologises for the inconvenience and distress these delays cause,” Saolta said in a statement.

It postponed all routine surgeries and some scheduled surgeries. Some outpatients’ at UHG appointments were also postponed as staff were once again redeployed to fill gaps.

Saolta said it was committed to treating everyone who presented at ED. “People who are seriously injured or ill are assessed and treated as a priority and those who do not require urgent care may be waiting longer,” it said.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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