Number on trolleys hits record high in Navan

The record numbers of patients on trolleys in Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, over the past week - while at least 23 beds in the hospital remained closed - were described by a local GP as putting lives at risk. There were 19 patients on trolleys in Navan on Monday, four last Friday, 11 on Thursday and 14 last Wednesday. The number had been reduced to three yesterday (Tuesday). The exceptionally high number of patients on trolleys throughout the north-east was described by hospital campaigners in Navan as proof of the need for full services at Our Lady's Hospital. There were 50 patients on trolleys in Drogheda yesterday (Tuesday), 21 on Monday and 30 last Friday. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) estimated that at least 23 beds were closed in the Navan hospital. The bed closures were described by Navan GP, Dr Ruairi Hanley, as a completely disgraceful action, which was putting patients lives at risk. “Overcrowding leads to the spread of infectious diseases, ultimately leading to people dying,†he said. He added that the current high numbers on trolleys illustrates the HSE's “lie†that Drogheda can cope if Navan is slowly run down. “It highlights the need for Navan Hospital. Without a hospital in Navan, our patients would be rotting on trolleys in Drogheda. The HSE plan to run down Navan must be overturned,†he said. Cllr Peadar Tóibín of the Save Navan Hospital Committee said the huge number on trolleys in hospitals around the region over the past week highlighted the lack of capacity in the region because of the hatchet job the HSE had done over the past few months. “The cutbacks have gone beyond what is safe and and the health system is breaking down around us,†he said. Cllr Catherine Yore said the government's handling of our health service is failing more with each new day. She said that, last Wedbnesday, 99 of the record 569 people on trolleys were in hospitals serving Meath. “Less than 10 per cent of the numbers on trolleys are due to swine flu. The real reason for the record bed shortage is the 1,600 beds which were closed, and a failure to put the health service under a proper management system,†she said. “This bed shortage will lead to further cancellations of planned surgery, which will result in yet more attendances at emergency departments, as people's surgical conditions deteriorate,†she warned. Tony Fitzpatrick of the INMO pointed out that before the HSE began reducing services in Navan, it had warned that Drogheda would not have the capacity to meet the new demands put on it. “It was extremely bad planning. The only reason for the closures in to save money,†he said. A spokesperson for the HSE said that, like most other emergency departments around the country, the hospitals in the Dublin/North-East region had been very busy over the past week. “The HSE would encourage the public to keep emergency departments for emergencies and would advise people to contact their GP or GP out-of-hours services in the first instance,†she said. She confirmed that no beds had reopened in Navan. Meanwhile, concern has also been expressed about the problem in recruiting junior doctors, as current rosters came to an end this week. Fears had been expressed that both the Navan and Drogheda Hospitals would be unable to recruit sufficient junior doctors for the next roster to keep all services going. Dr Hanley said that there was a national shortage of junior hospital doctors but the north-east had a bad reputation as a difficult place for young doctors to work. According to the HSE, the full impact of the junior doctor vacancies will not be known until later this week as the changeover in rosters took place yesterday. She said local management would be closely monitoring the situation in relation to vacancies that may arise. Meanwhile Cllr Tóibín has issued a rallying cry to the public to support the save Navan Hospital Rally outside the Dáil on 20th January at 1pm. He described last October's rally in Navan as a triumph of people power. “Since the rally, the Save Navan Hospital Campaign has met with the HSE and the Minister for Health and strongly defended the need for a fully functioning hospital. The Save Navan Hospital Campaign will again hold meetings with the HSE this month,†he said.