495 - The record number of patients left on trollies

THE Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) last night called for the indefinite cancellation of all non-emergency surgery.

The crisis in the country’s A&E wards reached record levels - leaving almost 500 patients waiting on trolleys.

INO general secretary Liam Doran demanded the Government open all closed beds, recruit more staff, and provide emergency funding to tackle the growing problem which, he said, was endangering patients.

The 495 people waiting for admission to hospital care, which equates to one in 25 of all public patients, marked an unprecedented level of crisis, he stressed.

On Tuesday, the INO counted 455 patients waiting on trolleys.

All elective, or non-emergency, surgery was cancelled in 15 hospitals yesterday because of the deteriorating situation.

But the INO wants such surgery cancelled until such time hospitals are in a position to cope with demand.

The hospitals worst affected yesterday were St James’s (39), Tallaght (39), Cavan General (38), Wexford General (35), St Vincent’s University Hospital (34), Cork University Hospital (33) and Letterkenny (30).

By last night, the number of patients waiting on trolleys had dropped to 337, according to the Health Services Executive (HSE).

But overall, the problem shows no sign of abating. According to the INO, an average of 242 patients were forced to wait on trolleys every day last year - a massive increase on 2002 when daily trolley figures topped the 100 mark for the first time. Mr Doran said any world-class health system should be capable of dealing with cyclical increases in demand without going into crisis.

“The Government and the HSE can no longer state that their plans are working and they must now listen to, and acknowledge, the repeated calls from frontline staff for additional emergency initiatives,” he said.

Specifically, the INO is calling for:

* The full utilisation, through additional subvention funding, of nursing home beds

* The opening of minor injury units in other hospitals to ease the pressure on major A&E facilities.

* The appointment of additional staff for frontline services.

“Any attempt to suggest that the overcrowding, currently occurring, can be attributed to the winter period and the winter vomiting bug are simply not sustainable,” said Mr Doran.

But HSE hospitals network manager Angela Fitzgerald did precisely that, blaming a temporary spike in activity outside Dublin and cases of the winter vomiting bug, for the crisis.

Ms Fitzgerald promised that A&E overcrowding would be the HSE’s “absolute single priority” and announced a new dedicated task force to tackle the issue.

“I would expect that we will be seeing significant improvements by the end of the year,” Ms Fitzgerald promised.

Health Minister Mary Harney, meanwhile, said there needed to be a radical reform of hospital admissions policy.

However, similar promises have been made before. Almost a year and a half ago, Ms Harney promised to tackle the A&E crisis immediately with a €70m plan.

Just last month, the HSE announced yet another €350 million health spending plan aimed at tackling key priorities such A&E overcrowding.

Opposition parties last night rounded on the Tanaiste’s failure to address the crisis.

“The fact is that the A&E crisis is not new to this Government but they are still failing to implement the most basic solutions - more beds, more frontline staff,” said Fine Gael health spokesperson Liam Twomey.

“This Tanaiste clearly has no understanding of what the Health Services need, and the Taoiseach doesn’t care,” said Labour health spokesperson Liz McManus.