Cries of patients ‘going unheard’

SERIOUSLY ill people waiting days on trolleys in overcrowded A&E units cannot be heard when they cry out for help, a patients’ lobby group has claimed.

Patients Together called for more safety measures to be put in place after it was alleged an elderly man, who was using oxygen, on a trolley at Dublin’s Mater Hospital, noticed a man smoking beside him.

John Glynn, aged 67 and from Finglas, suffered from emphysema and died after being transferred to a bed.

He had waited two days in a chair and one day on a trolley.

Janette Byrne of Patients Together said people on trolleys, chairs and mattresses could not be heard when they cry for help.

“They are all deemed sick enough to be admitted and should have a panic button close to hand so they can feel safe,” she insisted.

A spokesperson for the Mater said the hospital was investigating the alleged smoking incident.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil yesterday that around 90% of the 3,300 people treated in A&E units since Tuesday did not need trolleys, but resources were being put in place for those who were in need of one.

Nurses will protest against overcrowding &around the country again today. The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) will stage lunchtime protests at St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin and Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown.