OPS OFF FOR SECOND DAY
Five hospitals cancel surgeries over crowded A&E
ALL planned surgeries at five hospitals in the University of Limerick Hospital group are to be postponed for a second day.
The decision was taken due to the extremely high number of very ill patients presenting at its emergency department.
Elective procedures at UHL, Ennis, Nenagh, St John’s and Croom orthopaedic hospitals are affected.
The HSE said 73 patients were waiting on trolleys in A&E yesterday with a further 44 occupying surge capacity beds which might have been used for scheduled procedures.
The list of planned surgeries is being reviewed daily.
UHL said earlier it was dealing with extremely high demand and has asked people to consider all care options before coming to the A&E.
Those who are not urgent or seriously ill will face significant waiting times. The hospital is at its highest state of escalation and has seen its busiest week so far this year, with an average of 245 presentations a day, or 1,716 in the seven days up to yesterday morning.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said as of yesterday, there were 115 admitted patients waiting for a bed at UHL, down from 143 on Monday, which was the second highest recorded in its history.
According to the HSE’S Trolleygar figures, there were 73 admitted patients waiting for a bed at UHL – 32 in A&E and 41 on wards.
Scheduled or elective activity will remain under review as UHL deals with the high numbers of sick people at the hospital in the coming days, it said.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou Mcdonald has said staff at UHL are struggling to deal with major overcrowding.
She detailed the case of an elderly patient who was recently on a trolley in the hospital for eight days.
Ms Mcdonald told TDS: “There are significant staffing gaps in the hospital.
The Taoiseach said staff are working under enormous pressure and patients are experiencing things they should not have to experience.”
However, Leo Varadkar said hospital waiting lists are not at a record high and they have fallen for the last two years.