Kerry A&E had 21 on trolleys that were meant to hold 4

ACCIDENT and emergency staff working at Kerry General Hospital had to care for 21 patients on trolleys in a department designed to cater for four, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said yesterday.

The INO claims such overcrowding had become the norm at the hospital and it blamed continuous under-resourcing of services at the hospital.

The funding situation had culminated in the closure of a 24-bed surgical ward. “This closure seems set to continue unless additional funds are forthcoming from the HSE,” said the INO.

It added that the hospital also needs up to 130 extra nursing posts: “However, it is difficult to see how these posts can be achieved in light of the current employment controls.”

INO industrial relations officer Michael Dineen said the situation within A&E in the hospital in general was unsafe due to ongoing shortages of nurses.

“The HSE seems oblivious to the reality on the ground for our members,” he said.

Mr Dineen warned that further closures might become inevitable unless significant funding was committed to the hospital in order to ensure that it had a safe and viable future.

A HSE spokesman said that at 8am yesterday there were 17 people awaiting admission to Kerry General Hospital — 13 were in A&E and four were in the medical assessment unit.

He pointed out that plans for the new A&E department at the hospital were well advanced and it was expected to have a contractor on site by August this year.

The spokesman added that the building project would go to tender in the coming weeks.

“When completed the new department will be a tremendous asset to the population of Co Kerry which it serves, and also to patients from west Limerick and north Cork who choose to use the service,” he said.

The hospital’s general manager Margie Lynch said A&E had been very busy in recent days and said the department was working closely with staff to ensure everything possible was done to ensure patient care and comfort.

“We regret that any patient would experience inconvenience or discomfort, but I would like to reassure people that everything possible is being done.”

According to figures compiled by the INO yesterday 273 patients were on trolleys in A&Es throughout the country.

St Vincent’s Hospital and Tallaght Hospital each had the highest number at 34, followed by Cork University Hospital with 32.

There were 31 patients on trolleys in Beaumont Hospital’s emergency department, but last month overcrowding in the Dublin hospital reached a critical level with 54 patients on trolleys.