THE NEW A&E

LIVES are being ‘put at risk’ as patients are now being treated in ambulances outside hospital emergency departments, as the number of patients on trolleys continues to rise.

Fianna Fáil’s health spokesperson Billy Kelleher told the Irish Mail on Sunday that there is ‘no doubt that the fact ambulances are backing up outside EDs is putting lives at risk’.

Deputy Kelleher said that a recent capacity review on the ambulance service highlighted ‘a huge range of deficiencies’ and urged that ambulance capacity has to be enhanced ‘especially in rural areas’.

Ambulance drivers have now spoken of their frustration at having to wait up to six hours outside overcrowded emergency departments, where ambulances have been backed up.

One advanced paramedic, who did not wish to be identified, told the MoS that there has been a minimum two-hour handover at St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny in recent weeks.

‘That’s the time taken from when we respond to a 999 call and collect the patient, to when we hand them over to nursing staff,’ he explained.

‘There have been crews backed up for three, four or even six hours in the Carlow/Kilkenny region during the past few weeks.’

The frontline worker admitted that he and his colleagues are constantly under pressure saying: ‘I’m stuck at the hospital in an ambulance jam and they’re screaming on the radio looking for us.’

And often it’s a case that the crews have to wait for their ambulance stretcher to be returned after a patient is transferred into hospital.

‘The only explanation is that hospitals are short of trolleys,’ he said.

‘Patients’ lives are definitely under threat because of this. If a man is short of breath and calls 999, and endures a two-hour wait, he will have worsened substantially.

‘We could see this crisis was on the cards. The HSE knew it was worsening, but sat back and did nothing.’

Another paramedic who’s been employed by the HSE for the past 10 years revealed his working conditions have led him to consider a career change.

He said: ‘The turnaround time can take anything from a minimum of an hour to up to four hours at present. A few years ago 20-35 minutes would have been the average.

‘It’s soul destroying. We are training up fantastic healthcare professionals and throwing them into a system that doesn’t work.’

The ambulance driver, who services six hospitals in Leinster, said that one day last week eight ambulances from different regions were backed up outside a hospital at the same time for four or five hours.

Peter Ray, a Siptu representative and paramedic of 30 years, told how the system is completely stretched and needs more ambulances and more paramedics to function.

He said: ‘There’s an annual increase of five per cent in ambulance demand and we’re not keeping up.’

However, Mr Ray said he was currently not encountering any significant back-ups during his work at the Rotunda, Beaumont, The Mater and Temple Street hospitals in Dublin.

‘It’s important that people don’t hesitate to ring for an ambulance if they need one. But at the same time be considerate – use your common sense,’ he said.

In a statement, a HSE spokesperson said: ‘The National Ambulance Service work with colleagues in the acute hospital setting to ensure that turnaround times are managed as per the protocol in place and in the interest of patients.’

But reacting to the issue of ambulance back-ups, Health Minister Simon Harris said patient safety must always come first. He told the MoS: ‘The HSE has a protocol in place to minimise turnaround times. Our ambulance service is vital and that is why I increased investment last year and again this year.’

Addressing the wider crisis, Minister Harris said he had a teleconference with the chief executives of the country’s hospital groups on Friday and was in contact with them on Saturday. He said the provision of €40m in additional funding in 2017 is helping to manage the peak in demand for the health services over the winter period.

‘I have stressed the importance of having clinical decision makers in place in hospitals at key times to increase patient flow through the EDs, to ensure all the beds that can be opened are opened and that the availability of diagnostics is increased,’ he added.

Minister Harris said on Friday he discussed ‘exceptional measures’ with hospital group CEOs and the HSE. ‘It was agreed that priority would be given in the coming days to improving turnaround times for laboratory facilities in providing results of infection testing to hospitals, improving turnaround times for cleaning rooms and the provision of increased isolation facilities in hospitals wherever possible.’

A consultant general physician at a Dublin hospital described how, over Christmas, he had a 28-week pregnant woman with tonsillitis who spent two nights on a trolley in a geriatric ward.

‘I told the interns working with me that these conditions are not normal. I love my job but I can’t safely keep track of patients if my list gets to 45-50. It reached 55 over Christmas. I’m forced to retrench to the sickest people and I worry I’ll miss people. It’s hugely frustrating,’ he said.

‘Patients’ lives are definitely under threat’ ‘We are stretched day-to-day as it is’