ALMOST 3 , 000 HOMELESS IN HOSPITAL STAY
Person is released to streets every day
ALMOST 3,000 hospital admissions were linked to homelessness over a seven-year period, it emerged yesterday.
HSE figures show a person is discharged from an Irish hospital without any home to go to almost every day of the year – with 2,627 stays by patients with “no fixed abode” from 2009 to 2016.
The Healthcare Pricing Office shows there were 335 homeless people released from stays in 2016, but the highest number was in 2014 when there were 448.
Consultant in emergency medicine at Cork University Hospital Dr Chris Luke said people living on the streets are admitted with a litany of conditions.
He added: “They get TB, pneumonia, skin ulcers, skin infections, dermatitis, scabies, hepatitis and fractures from falling.
“They are regularly attacked – the violence is shocking. They are victims of accidents, they’re victims of being thrown into the river, of being beaten up, of being stabbed.
“They have any trauma injury you can think of. There is also malnutrition.”
While the figures, which do not include A&E or outpatient visits, give an indication of stays, they are not thought to give a full picture as not all homeless admissions may be logged for various reasons.
The data also reveals 330 hypothermia cases related to the environment in Irish hospitals over the same period. Hospitals discharged 41 people in 2016 after treatment for dangerous drops in body temperature.
Dr Luke said: “If the body temperature drops by two or three degrees towards 32 [Celsius], you start to get properly hypothermic.
“Basically, you have to wake up and shiver and rouse yourself and move around.”
“My perception is a slight increase in cases.” He added that homeless people are seen in A&E daily as the chronic housing situation has spiralled in recent years. The consultant said: “Every emergency department sees a steady flow of the homeless. “It is very unusual for me to go to the Mercy without seeing two or three people on a trolley every day. “They define the purpose of the emergency department. They are the sick, the poor, the needy. “Homelessness is worse than ever. You’ve got globalisation, addiction issues and capitalism – all of those come together to put people on the streets, often very unexpectedly.” He praised agencies like the Simon Community for their “remarkable work” but said their hostels are “bursting at the seams”. Dr Luke added: “The stuff that is going on is wonderful but at the same time it’s a bit like the health service – we’re struggling to keep up with the workload, it’s enormous.”
IT’S frightening to think homelessness and hypothermia accounted for nearly 3,000 hospital stays in the last decade.
HSE figures show almost every day at least one person is discharged with no fixed abode.
Dr Chris Luke painted the stark reality of the dangers people living on the streets face, many being violently attacked.
If it wasn’t for agencies like the Simon Community the statistics would no doubt be higher.
The Government needs to make more facilities available so more people don’t end up having to rely on the hospital A&E for warmth and care.