Connacht Tribune
Top medics issue warning over University Hospital Galway understaffing
Galway public hospitals’ senior clinical leadership team has warned local politicians of the dangers to patients and staff of the ongoing underinvestment in infrastructure at the city’s two main hospitals.
In a hard-hitting letter to Galway reps, six professors and one doctor at Galway University Hospitals (GUH) outlined the impact chronic underfunding of UHG and Merlin Park was having on patient care and staff.
Pat Nash, Chief Clinical Director, Saolta and Consultant Cardiologist, was among the signatories of the letter which urged politicians to prioritise and progress key developments at both hospital sites.
The clinical team then met with local TDs and Senators in an online conference call to hammer home their message.
“We are extremely concerned about the lack of progress to develop key and urgently needed infrastructural developments across the two sites of GUH. This puts the future of healthcare delivery, recruitment and retention of staff and particularly the welfare of our community and region at risk,” they warned.
They said both hospitals were “extremely old and dated”.
UHG was opened in 1956 as a core six-ward block with linked paediatric and maternity ward units, which “have changed little in the intervening years”. And investment has been limited to “urgent remedial works or temporary add-ons to the site”.
Merlin Park was opened in 1954 as a TB sanatorium and the core layout remains intact with limited change over the years, they said.
They pointed out that an independent appraisal in 2018 and updated in 2021, “found that the majority of the hospitals’ infrastructure was not satisfactory/unacceptable for its current function”.
They warned that despite the recent Covid-19 pandemic, UHG continues to operate with “large nightingale type multi-bedded wards” including 13 beds with a single shared toilet and multiple wards where single rooms have no ensuite bathroom facilities.
“Compared to other regions and large model four hospitals, Galway has had little significant investment in its acute hospitals over the years and clearly ranks now as the model four hospital with the most dated and inadequate infrastructure in the country, a status reinforced by the Covid-19 pandemic where despite the best efforts of staff, we had to manage repeated hospital acquired outbreaks of Covid-19,” the clinical team said.
As well as “inadequate infrastructure”, they argued strongly that there were not enough beds at GUH to reflect how its two hospitals have evolved.
UHG and Merlin now provide acute and elective secondary care for County Galway, most of Roscommon and parts of adjacent counties.
GUH also provides tertiary specialist care for a wide number of specialties, in particular cancer care and cardiac care for Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Galway and parts of adjacent counties.
“This tertiary function was not envisaged when the original hospitals were developed 70 years ago,” they said.
The “major capacity issues” were confirmed in an independent KPMG options appraisal report which outlined the need for 222 additional acute inpatient beds and 34 additional day beds and outpatient facilities in Galway by 2030.
Compared to other model four hospitals, GUH has among the highest number of patients waiting daily for beds, as well as having the longest waiting list. It is also comparatively one of the busiest in the country, they said.
The clinicians’ letter warned: “There are huge clinical risks associated with the current situation where patients are exposed to increased risk whilst being delayed on trolleys in our Emergency Department, or whilst waiting on waiting lists for assessment or prescribed treatment plans, both for urgent time dependent care, in particular potentially curative cancer surgery/treatment but also other procedures/assessments to improve both quality of life and survival.”
They claimed that Galway “has lagged significantly behind other major hospitals with a lack of a clear strategic vision for the future hospital developments”.
They urged local politicians to push for Government progress on a new acute hospital at Merlin Park and for more progress on developing the planned new combined Emergency Department/Women’s and Children’s building at UHG.
The letter was signed by Prof Pat Nash, Chief Clinical Director, Saolta and Consultant Cardiologist GUH; Prof Martin O’Donnell, Dean of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Galway and Consultant Geriatrician/Physician GUH; Prof John Morrison, Director of Women’s and Children’s MCAN, Saolta and Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, GUH; Prof Michael Kerin, Director of Cancer MCAN, Saolta and Consultant Breast and General Surgery, GUH; Prof Margaret Murray, Director of Laboratory, Saolta and Consultant Haematologist GUH; Prof Tim O’Brien, Director of Medicine MCAN, Saolta and Consultant Endocrinologist, GUH; and Dr Ramona McLoughlin, Director of Quality and Patient Safety, Saolta and Consultant Gastroenterologist GUH.
Independent Galway East TD Seán Canney was among the group of local politicians who met with the clinical team last week.
Afterwards he said the delivery of those projects was “too slow and unacceptable”.
“I believe that the talking must stop, and we need to get this infrastructure in place so the people who are sick are treated with dignity and can gain access to the treatment required.
“I will be requesting the Government to treat this situation as an emergency, cut out all the unnecessary paperwork and approvals and get the infrastructure delivered. If there is no change in the methods used in delivering infrastructure, we will still be talking about this issue in ten years’ time,” Deputy Canney said.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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