Overcrowding crisis at Cavan hospital - nurses

The HSE is reluctant to take an over-stretched Cavan General Hospital off-call during crisis periods of intense overcrowding because of the political ramifications associated with the closure of Monaghan General Hospital. That is the view of the regional organiser of the Irish Midwives and Nurses Association (IMNA), Tony Fitzpatrick, who claimed that there has been massive overcrowding at the hospital over the past week with 28 people on trolleys last Friday, 18 on Monday and 19 yesterday (Tuesday). The HSE disputes these trolley numbers and say there were on average two less patients per day awaiting admission from January 1 to January 18 compared to the same period last year. The HSE does concede there has been some delay in admitting patients because of a small increase in presentations due to the outbreak of the winter vomiting bug. "The HSE regrets the inconvenience that waiting for admission can cause for patients. We wish to assure patients that staff are endeavouring to minimise the inconvenience that may arise." According to Mr. Fitzpatrick, the overcrowding at the hospital is imposing impossible strain on staff and at one point the medical assessment unit (MAU) had to stop taking patients because they couldn't get other patients admitted to beds. "It is just intolerable for staff when it reaches this level of overcrowding. For health and safety reasons, notwithstanding the risk to patients and staff, they should take the hospital off-call for a certain time and divert ambulances to other centres," claims the IMNO regional organiser. Mr. Fitzpatrick further contends that better use could be made of existing facilities at Cavan General to ease the overcrowding. He said that the day ward was empty on Friday, yet there were patients on trolleys on the corridors "in deplorable and unacceptable conditions". He was also critical of the failure of hospital management to cancel elective surgery at a time when there was such intense pressure on the hospital. The union is seeking a meeting with management to discuss emergency measures, which it says need to be put in place immediately.