Cork University Hospital trolley count highest in the country 

A Cork city GP has said he is now having to convince sick elderly people to go to hospital.

It comes as Cork University Hospital (CUH) had 90 patients on trolleys today — more than any other hospital in the country.

This is amid highly publicised, ongoing issues with staffing and overcrowding at the hospital. 

Dr John Sheehan, a GP in Blackpool and Fianna Fáil councillor, said that the winter wave of illness has come “a little bit earlier than normal”.

“We’re seeing a lot more respiratory tract infections in the last week or 10 days, and people are getting quite sick, especially the elderly,” he said. 

“We’re seeing it in children as well, though they’re not getting as sick.”

Dr Sheehan added that although flu vaccines are regularly given to children and people over 65, uptake among younger adults was not high enough.

Trolley figures increase

He said that people are “really thrown down” by these respiratory infections.

“If you’re elderly, they can make you confused, short of breath, weak, vomiting, and more, and they end up having to go to emergency departments in hospitals, but you see the trolley figures increase,” said Dr Sheehan.

“It’s hard to persuade people to go to hospitals. I had a conversation with someone yesterday who had tried other things to stay out of hospital, but it wasn’t working, and they reached a stage where they had to be in hospital.

“It is a daunting prospect for someone of any age, but particularly when you’re elderly.”

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) reported 90 people on trolleys in CUH yesterday, more than any other hospital in Ireland. A further 36 people were on trolleys in Mercy University Hospital, and five in Bantry.

There were 81 people receiving care without a hospital bed in CUH’s emergency department on Wednesday, a 40% jump from 58 just the day before.

Deeply concerning

Liam Conway, Cork-based INMO representative, told The Echo: “The overcrowding is simply unsafe.

“We’re seeing extremely dangerous levels — we don’t have the staff to cope with any overcrowding, but 90 patients on trolleys is deeply concerning, and extremely unsafe for patients and staff.

“We know the employer has failed to implement the safe staffing framework in wards, and we’re now placing trolleys on those wards.”

He said that the only admissions to the hospital at the moment should be through the emergency department, because there are “a lot of issues need to be addressed at CUH” related to staffing.

This includes an agreement to increase operating theatre staffing to facilitate more procedures.

“But this has not been implemented due to an embargo placed by the Department of Health,” said Mr Conway.

“We’ve also seen the opening of services without staffing and quickly closing them, like the surgical hub.”

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeil has dismissed concerns that were raised by the hospital’s CEO Jennifer Kearney that the hospital had unsafe levels of staff heading into the winter, repeatedly saying that the hospital has hired twice as many people as had been budgeted for.