The dangers of overcrowding in the A&E department

Philomena Whitehouse was suffering from severe chest pains when she was forced to spend the night on a wheelchair in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital.

She had gone to the hospital’s busy accident and emergency department at around 7pm on Monday after seeing her GP.

In the morning, Philomena moved to a chair in the waiting area just outside the A&E, where she tried to doze for a bit. Her daughter, Donna, was with her.

A sign taped to the doors of the A&E stated that no visitors were allowed until 3pm.

Philomena from Balbriggan, in Dublin, had been prescribed medication but was still in a lot of pain.

She had numerous tests, including an X-ray, and was awaiting a CT scan

“They think it is something to do with my stomach, even though the pain is in my chest,” she said.

There were 41 patients on trolleys in Beaumont yesterday — 35 in the emergency department and a further six had been placed in wards. But many more patients like Philomena sat in chairs.

“Last night they had some of us sitting in a row of wheelchairs. It was very cold,” said Philomena.

Donna wanted to keep an eye on her mother.

“She is fine now but the pain could get worse,” she said. “I don’t want to leave her alone.”

Nurses at the hospital have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action to end the severe and unsafe over-crowding in A&E.

The action being taken by members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), will take the form of an ongoing work to rule.

All essential care to patients will continue but non-essential administrative work will not be done by nurses.

The INMO issued a statement yesterday warning that the industrial action would escalate to work stoppages if the situation did not improve.

INMO members will hold a lunchtime protest at the hospital on Friday.

Nurses said chronic overcrowding was affecting their ability to provide safe patient care.

Beaumont Hospital said yesterday that it regretted the difficult conditions experienced by patients and staff at its A&E.

It said the hospital’s A&E was one of the busiest in Ireland, providing services to over 50,000 patients each year.

It blamed delayed discharges and an increase in patients because of changes to services across the region and new service developments.

It said all available beds were open and, with the exception of cancer cases, elective surgery had been cancelled.

While it had started to benefit from additional HSE resources to tackle delayed discharges, more long term and sustainable solutions would be needed.