HOSPITAL CHAOS ALERT
Medical chief warns of ‘perfect storm’ with 1,000 patients on trolleys
IRELAND’S hospitals face a “perfect storm” this winter as the number of patients left on trolleys is set to soar to 1,000, it has been warned.
Medical chief Dr Peader Gilligan added a crisis looms because of the lack of emergency department resources, an acute bed shortage and a failure to recruit staff.
He said: “Successive governments’ lack of investment in our health service will be seen in hospitals across the country this winter.
“In January we’ll hear it is a ‘flu crisis’ or a ‘winter crisis’ – it is not. It is a failure of policy.”
THE number of people on trolleys could top 1,000 this winter as a result of a “perfect storm”, the Irish Medical Organisation chief warned yesterday.
Dr Peadar Gilligan claimed the health service is stretched to its limits and might not be able to cope in the coming months.
He said a lack of emergency department resources, an acute bed shortage and the failure to recruit staff will create a “perfect storm” in Irish hospitals.
Dr Gilligan insists this will lead to over 1,000 people left on trolleys and a severely hampered health service.
The IMO claims the looming crisis has three solutions:
■ A major investment in acute beds,
■ A recruitment campaign to attract more consultants and an end to the two-tier contract which leaves consultants employed since 2012 earning 30% less than colleagues, and ■ A widespread investment in general practice and primary care.
Dr Gilligan said: “The IMO has long warned you cannot have a removal of resources without an impact on services.
“Successive governments’ lack of investment in our health service will be seen in hospitals across the country this winter.
“In January we’ll hear it is a ‘flu crisis’ or a ‘winter crisis’ – it is not. It is a failure of policy.”
He insisted extra demands of the season could be met with investment in both infrastructure and recruitment. The IMO president added: “Patients being cared for in dangerously overcrowded emergency departments is a function of an acute hospital system working beyond its available capacity.
“The constraints include nearly 500 unfilled consultant posts and 2,650 less beds than we require and a need for over 1,000 additional GPS.”
At the weekend Fianna Fail claimed up to 130,000 beds are lost each year due to delayed discharges as patients who have finished their treatment have nowhere to go.
The party called for investment in step-down facilities and home care.
WARNINGS from the Irish Medical Organisation that hospitals face a “perfect storm” which could see 1,000 people on trolleys must be heeded.
IMO president Dr Peadar Gilligan rightly points out the health service is at breaking point and could be overwhelmed this winter.
Similar warnings have been voiced by nurses who see first-hand the shambolic state of emergency care.
Unfortunately this Government, and previous ones, have failed to take the action needed to make changes.
The shortage of acute beds and the desperate need for skilled staff has been flagged, but the pleas of the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation have been ignored.
As the cold sets in and flu season approaches the Government must take immediate measures to make more acute beds available.
It should be remembered on one day last March 714 patients were left on trolleys and chairs in emergency departments and corridors of the country’s hospitals.
Dr Peadar Gilligan said yesterday that number could hit 1,000 – a dire situation that could lead to patient deaths.
The Government must declare a national health emergency while there is still time – before they are forced to take the same action when the health service collapses.