Thousands join march on hospital conditions
Attention on crowding and trolley woes
THOUSANDS are expected to march today across the country to call out hospital overcrowding.
Over 20 simultaneous demos are scheduled, according to the National Hospitals’ Campaign.
People in the midwest will specifically highlight problems at University Hospital Limerick – which was yesterday again the most overcrowded in the country.
There were 482 patients waiting on trolleys across Ireland yesterday, with 65 in UHL, 49 in University Hospital Galway, and 48 in Cork University Hospital, according to the Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation.
Midwest Hospital Campaign spokesperson Marie Mcmahon told the Irish Mirror they want Health Service Executive chiefs to “sit upright and pay attention” to today’s march.
Marie, from Ennistymon in Co Clare, was devastated in April 2018 when her husband Thomas Wynne died after 36 hours on a trolley in a UHL corridor.
She said yesterday: “The protest is to highlight the ongoing issues at UHL, not just during the winter, but all 365 days of the year.
“They got the trolley figures down at UHL by putting patients in other hospitals, but it did not reduce the actual trolley figures.
“They just moved the problem elsewhere by switching patients from one under-pressure hospital to another – but the crisis has not gone away.
“They insult the public by claiming that they have significantly reduced trolley figures.”
After the hospital overcrowding crisis peaked at a record 931 on January 3, the HSE moved to ease pressure at UHL.
It opened beds at Ennis General Hospital, Co Clare; Nenagh Hospital, Co Tipperary; and created a surge at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital in Co Limerick.
When the INMO’S trolley count hit an unprecedented 931, UHL’S 97 was the highest number of patients on trolleys, and when trolley figures hit 838 just a day later, UHL’S 76 was again the highest in the country.
INMO figures show there were 2,422 people on trolleys at UHL in 2009, but that rose by 644% to 18,028 last year. However, the Midwest Hospital Campaign that organised today’s protest in Limerick estimates the INMO’S 18,028 figure is too low.
Marie said: “The 18,028 figure is for Monday to Friday only.
“It does not include patients on trolleys on Saturdays, Sunday, and Bank Holiday Mondays.
“We worked out that the real figure is closer to 25,000. The INMO should make it clear that their figures are only for five days of the week.”
She added: “The HSE has said it does not know if patients have died due to the overcrowding crisis. Of course people have died.
“My Tommy died. There are horrendous stories. We have to remember that there are human faces behind the trolley figures.”
Meanwhile, the National Hospitals’ Campaign has arranged for over 20 simultaneous protests today from 1pm to 2pm.
Organisers of the national day of action against hospital overcrowding urged people to attend a demo outside Letterkenny University Hospital in Donegal today.
Local organiser Mary T Sweeney said: “The crisis is going from worse to worse.”