Update 4pm: Health experts have warned that the hospital overcrowding crisis will continue unless there’s a massive redesign of Ireland’s health system.
DCU health professor Anthony Staines says the system needs to be redesigned so that hospitals are a patient’s last resort: “Simon Harris has a really tough job, but my experience with the people involved is that they are all working very hard, they are all working very focused to improve things.
“But they need an over all plan, somebody needs to say this is where the health service is going.”
Update 2pm: Health minister Simon Harris says he has begun a review of bed capacity at every hospital, in an attempt to solve the problem.
But consultants and experts are warning that overcrowding will continue unless the health system is totally redesigned.
Christine O’Malley is Consultant Geriatrician at Nenagh Hospital in Tipperary and a former President of the Irish Medical Organisation.
She says the situation isn’t surprising: “If right now there was double the money in the health service the Irish health service by policy would not open beds because they don’t believe hospital beds are required.
“So I at the moment don’t think it is a money issue, I think it is a failure of analysis, failure of policy, failure of understanding.”
Update10.40am: The INMO has said there are 602 people waiting on trolleys in the country’s hospitals this morning. This follows yesterday record figure of 612.
>Update 9am: The Minister for Health has said the flu vaccine may be made mandatory for health workers.
Simon Harris said he was disappointed at the uptake levels in the sector, and said fewer than 20% of nurses have got the jab. The HSE has cited a surge in winter illnesses like the flu for the current surge in demand for services at the country’s hospitals.
“There’s an onus on all of us working in the health service and going in and out of hospitals, to get it. Not only does it keep us well; it also limits the chances of us carrying it and impacting on patients,” he said.
“If the uptake is so low, it’s something we will have to look at in the future.”
Health chiefs have blamed flu, winter vomiting bugs and chest infections for a new record overcrowding crisis in the country’s hospitals, with the INMO saying 612 patients were waiting on trolleys in emergency units yesterday.
HSE bosses disputed the nurses’ head count, claiming that its records showed 487 patients waiting for a bed at 8am on Tuesday morning.
The HSE said the problem is being compounded by 21 outbreaks of respiratory infections and flu this season in hospitals, nursing homes and residential centres.
It also said there has been a significant increase in the number of over 75s seeking hospital care. They are twice as likely to be admitted and commonly stay twice as long.
Earlier:
The Health Minister Simon Harris is to meet the HSE tomorrow to discuss the new record level of people on trolleys at hospitals around the country.
The daily count hit 612 yesterday. Earlier this week, the HSE warned that influenza and respiratory illness levels have doubled over the past two weeks and are likely to increase further in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the medical director of Cork and Kerry’s out-of-hours GP service, SouthDoc, Gerry Stack, said there was a 40% rise in patient contacts this Christmas compared to last and a 53% rise comparing this new year period and last.
Meanwhile, nationally, the INMO said there has been a “ significant deterioration” in emergency department overcrowding in November and December.
In total, there was a record 93,621 admitted patients on trolleys last year, said INMO secretary general Liam Doran.
The INMO says overcrowded emergency departments mean conditions are “chaotic, cruel and extremely difficult” for nurses and patients.
Officials are expecting the numbers of people on trolleys to be the same, if not worse, today after yesterday’s record high of 612.
Extended service hours and giving GPs direct access to consultants are among the options being available in a bid to reduce the number of patients on trolleys.
The Minister said the surge is a result of a highly contagious flu which has particularly targeted older people.
He is encouraging anyone who has not had the flu vaccine to consider getting it straight away, regardless of their age.
“It’s about ensuring we minimise the spread of the flu,” he said
Meanwhile, the body representing nursing homes said they have a key role to play in solving the trolley crisis.
Tadhg Daly from Nursing Homes Ireland is welcoming a pledge from Minister Harris to look into working with them on the issue, “We welcome the fact the Minister acknowledges, however late it is, the role of Nursing Homes Ireland and our members.
“We’re happy to engage with Minister Harris, his Department and the HSE to alleviate the crisis that’s in our hospitals at the moment and alleviate the suffering of families and older people.”
