An additional 40 acute beds have been allocated to address overcrowding at one of the country’s busiest & emergency departments. In recent weeks, doctors at the & Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick have struggled to cope with the numbers presenting…
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Medical news service from Penhire
Blog Archives
Letter to Irish Times: View from a hospital trolley
Sir, – I was more than a little discombobulated on March 20th, as I listened to a radio report that Minister for Health Dr James Reilly claimed the number of patients awaiting a hospital bed from an emergency room trolley…
Bed shortage led to cancellation of 170 operations
A shortage of beds was directly responsible for the cancellation of more than 170 operations at Kerry General Hospital (KGH) between 2010 and 2012. While the overall cancellation figure for the three-year period was 1,294, there were other factors, besides…
Cancelling care: the effects of closing wards for cost-containment measures?
The HSE has said the cancellations represent the effects of closing wards for cost-containment measures and a lack of capacity caused by emergency admissions. Its candour is welcome but the specific mention of capacity must now raise the issue of…
Rotunda may limit intake of mothers
One of the biggest maternity hospitals in the State is considering a cap on the number of expectant mothers it will deliver, because of safety concerns. The Rotunda hospital says it cannot continue accommodating an ever-increasing number of patients when…
Serious concern over mentally ill child admitted to adult unit in Cork
“The lack of provision of a place in the local child and adolescent in-patient unit for a seriously ill, vulnerable child currently a resident in St Michael’s unit was unacceptable,” a report by the Inspector of Mental Health Services states,…
St James’s closes public beds in consultant deal
St James’s Hospital in Dublin confirmed it had to convert four public beds to private beds in order to provide more accommodation for people with health insurance who are under the care of a consultant. The change became necessary after…
Orla Tinsley: We CF patients need to focus on living
The “where possible” rooms are not clustered together on a floor where staff are trained in CF. There is no exercise equipment in these unspecified rooms in the 100-bed building. This week I arrived seeking treatment for infection and was…
10% of inpatient hospital beds out of use
New figures show that more than 10 per cent of inpatient hospital beds are out of use because they are occupied by patients who are medically fit or the beds are closed. (Times) >
Beds reduction proposed for Meath and Louth hospitals
BED NUMBERS will be reduced and services curtailed in hospitals in counties Louth and Meath under cost-saving proposals drawn up by the Health Service Executive. The details are contained in a confidential memo that outlines proposed cuts to Louth County…
“inconsistent with safe surgical practice”
ONE BED in six remained closed at the Children’s University Hospital in Temple Street over the summer because of a cost-containment programme. The hospital has a total of 145 beds. The cutbacks prompted surgeons at the hospital to warn earlier…
Hospitals will lose over 280,000 days to ‘bed-blockers’ this year
MORE than 93,000 ‘bed days’ were lost in hospitals in the first four months of this year because hundreds of patients were unable to leave, new figures reveal. The problem is due to ‘delayed discharges’ — or patients known as…
Letter re backlog
[Letter to Times >] Sir, – My daughter was admitted to AE at the Mater hospital last Wednesday, April 25th, with abdominal pain and suspected appendicitis. She had to wait for 2½ days – including spending a night sleeping on…
Mater back to normal after bed warning
THE MATER hospital in Dublin was returning to normal yesterday evening after an alert just hours earlier warning the facility was operating at capacity. In an email to managers, staff were advised of the need for measures to be taken…
Patients with cystic fibrosis wait for beds
SEVEN CYSTIC fibrosis patients were forced to remain at home while waiting for a bed in a Dublin hospital because of fears of cross- infection in its overcrowded emergency room. Independent Dublin North Central TD Finian McGrath told the Dáil…
Ronan O’Sullivan calls for more hospital beds
A LEADING clinician has said dangerous levels of overcrowding in paediatric hospitals could be alleviated overnight by opening more beds. Quality of care is being adversely affected in emergency departments in Dublin’s two paediatric hospitals and in mixed emergency departments…
Struggling hospitals hit with €18.5m fines which will spark more closures
PATIENTS will bear the brunt of more than €18.5m in financial penalties that are being imposed on some of the most overcrowded hospitals in the country. The result will be more bed closures, cuts in operations and outpatient clinics, as…
Levying full cost for use of public beds would hit insurers
ANY MOVE by the Government to charge the full economic cost for the use of beds in Health Service Executive and voluntary hospitals for private practice would have a seismic effect on the health insurance sector. (Times) >
A & E work stoppage
[Letter to Irish Times >>>] Sir, – Having spent time in the Mid Western Regional Hospital recently, including 24 hours in A & E, and having experienced first hand the atrocious conditions in which nurses and staff are forced to…
Anger as HSE closes 65 hospital beds
Kathleen Lynch, Minister for State at the Department of Health, said the closures — in mainly short-stay beds — will be at Camillus Hospital, Co Limerick (15); St Ita’s Hospital, Newcastlewest, Co Limerick, (17); Community Hospital of the Assumption, Thurles,…
Nurses criticise Galway hospital protocol
In a statement, the HSE said: “In order to safely manage patients waiting in the emergency department for admission and have facilities available for emergencies that may present during the day, the hospital had to implement its full capacity protocol.…
Patients forced home early as cuts close 2,000 beds
A HSE spokeswoman told the Irish Examiner the bed closures crisis was not affecting patient care and that hospitals “must comply with statutory obligations” due to the system’s “extremely challenging” budget problems. This meant delivering “the level of service detailed…
Reilly urged to save Limerick hospital beds
TRADE and Development Minister Jan O’Sullivan has asked Health Minister James Reilly to get the HSE to rearrange its budget to retain 25 beds at the Limerick’s main hospital that are due to be taken out of use this week.…
Cancer surgeries held up by lack of beds
Seven of the 40 patients booked for prostate cancer surgery in St James’s Hospital, Dublin, had their procedures cancelled in the six weeks to July 11. (Independent) >>>
Staff and funding reductions lead to 1,900 bed closures
ALMOST 1,900 hospital beds have closed over the past 18 months due to staff cuts and an ongoing lack of investment in services. Figures compiled by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) reveal the extent of the looming hospital…
Ireland short on hospital beds: OECD
THE latest assessment of health spending across the OECD shows that while Ireland makes a comparatively average investment on the population’s wellbeing, the availability of beds is exceptionally low by international standards. (Examiner) >>>
Locals urged to fight for future of hospital
The Friends of Bandon Community Hospital in Co Cork hope to ramp up pressure on the Government to release funding for the stalled project. “We have to get money from Department of Health to address the chronic shortage of beds…
HSE to audit level of bed closures
THE HSE has stopped publishing its monthly bed closure rates and begun a nationwide audit on the issue after union claims that the number of closed units could be almost 40% higher than believed. (Examiner) >>>
Protesters refute HSE claims over hospital bed closures
BED closures at a West Cork community hospital are necessary to meet fire safety standards, otherwise the hospital would fail a mandatory registration process, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has claimed. Yesterday the HSE said independent assessors, Maurice Johnson and…
Seriously ill children ‘half a day’ on trolleys
SERIOUSLY ill children were forced to wait more than half a day on emergency department trolleys because of closed beds, service downgrading and staff shortages at one of the country’s largest hospitals. “Consultants are still doing too much private work…
