Flu crisis cripples hospitals and GPs
‘Bedlam’ in hospitals Record number on trolleys Worst yet to come
THE health sector has been plunged into winter chaos as hospitals and GP surgeries are buckling under the strain of a spike in flu cases.
The numbers waiting on trolleys in overcrowded hospitals reached a record high of 656 and GPs said they were inundated with flu and respiratory ailments. Health experts fear the situation will deteriorate as flu cases won’t peak for another three to four weeks and may last until mid-February.
The National Association of GPs said some of its members had been “out the door” since Christmas. CEO Chris Goodey said: “The entire health service is under incredible strain. GPs are absolutely inundated with patients with flu.”
Dr Ray Walley, a GP in north Dublin, said doctors were bracing themselves for even more of an onslaught next week.
“There are three doctors in this practice. It is not possible to fulfil all the appointments coming in via a face-to-face consultation,” he said.
“One colleague working within the hospital sector described it as ‘bedlam’.”
A spokesman for Dublin Fire Brigade said it responded to 1,200 calls over the last 48 hours including hundreds of calls for ambulances as well as storm-related calls.
Health Minister Simon Harris yesterday said the sector was “entering a difficult few weeks” but “no effort or resource is being spared to improve this situation”.
THE health service is buckling under the strain of dealing with a sharp hike in the number of flu cases.
GP surgeries reported being inundated with patients with flu and respiratory ailments as many reopened for the first time yesterday after the holiday season, while the number of people on hospital trolleys reached a record high of 656.
There are fears the situation will deteriorate further, as health experts estimate cases of flu will not peak for another three to four weeks – and won’t decline until the middle of February. Health experts predict there will be a large increase in cases over the coming weeks, which will heap further pressure on an already overstretched health service.
The National Association of GPs said that some of its members have been “out the door” with flu cases since Christmas.
CEO Chris Goodey said: “The entire health service is under incredible strain. GPs are absolutely inundated with patients with flu and they are feeling completely overwhelmed.”
Some one million stocks of the flu vaccine were ordered and around 930,000 have been distributed, as calls were made for at-risk groups to get vaccinated.
Stephen McMahon, chairman of the Irish Patients’ Association, said that GPs were already over-stretched.
“I think GP practices are at tipping point in some areas,” he said. “Some patients already face a wait of two or three days to get an appointment.
“I will be very watchful for the impact on GP surgeries and overcrowding and the knock-on effect in emergency departments and the impact on the numbers on trolleys.”
Kildare GP Dr Brendan O’Shea, director of the Post-Graduate Resource Centre with the Irish College of General Practitioners, said he had witnessed an increase in cases of flu through his work there as well as in his practice.
Meanwhile, the traditional rush of patients to hospital emergency departments (EDs) following the Christmas and new year break reached a record high of 656 patients waiting on trolleys to be admitted – up from 612 a year ago.
The latest figures from the INMO showed St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny was the worst affected yesterday with 57 people on trolleys. It was followed by University Hospital Limerick where 55 patients were waiting for a bed and Cork University Hospital where 38 patients were on trolleys.
In Dublin, St Vincent’s University Hospital was the worst affected with 29 patients on trolleys in its ED alone with no figures for the numbers on trolleys in wards.
However, Emily O’Connor, president of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine, said a worrying new development was for young patients to be waiting on trolleys at children’s hospitals.
Last month, an outbreak of a viral infection known as respiratory syncytial virus strained resources at the three hospitals.
“It happened a bit over the last number of years but by December all out paediatric emergency colleagues were telling us they had trolley waits,” she said. “For the paediatric hospitals to have patients waiting on trolleys, that’s a new phenomenon.”
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the three children’s hospitals said the number of patients on trolleys across the three EDs was “very low”.
Dr O’Connor, a consultant at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, predicted the latest figures on cases of flu, due to be released tomorrow, would show “significant levels of flu”.
In 2006, then health minister Mary Harney declared a national emergency after more than 495 were waiting on trolleys.
Health Minister Simon Harris yesterday said “no effort or resource is being spared”.
“We are entering a difficult few weeks and our health services are experiencing extra pressure because of the flu season,” he said.
The minister claimed yesterday’s HSE ‘TrolleyGAR’ figures showed the lowest numbers for the first Tuesday in January in three years, which was “still very high and not acceptable”.
However, TrolleyGAR does not give the number of patients on trolleys in wards who are waiting for beds.