Photos of patients sleeping on floor shows University Hospital Waterford 'in absolute crisis', says campaigner

A leading campaigner has warned politicians that patients were dying needlessly at University Hospital Waterford because of the failure to fund vital services.

“It is time you faced these facts and took responsibility for your actions,” said Hilary O'Neill, chairperson of the South East Patient Advocacy Group.

Ms O'Neill said a new low-point was reached when the Irish Examiner published images of patients sleeping on the floor of the hospital's psychiatric unit.

“We now have patients sleeping on floors and chairs in waiting rooms and on corridors in what was once one of the best functioning hospitals in the country.”

Ms O'Neill said the Department of Psychiatry was “in absolute crisis” because of a lack of funding.

She said:

“What can only be described as inhumane conditions are putting the safety of both vulnerable patients and staff at risk every single day.”

The Mental Health Commission that oversees the registration of inpatient psychiatric facilities says "significant changes and improvements" are needed if the unit is to be re-registered next March.

Ms O'Neill claimed that since UHW was aligned with Cork University Hospital it had been stripped of funding for many vital services.

She said conditions in the hospital's emergency department are particularly bad at weekends with patients waiting for hours only to be told that services are unavailable.

The hospital, which has an annual budget of €190m, reduced its operating theatre as part of a €10m cost-saving plan. Overtime has also been cut. It announced last May that savings of 5% were needed to come in on budget.

Ms O'Neill said the hospital now had some of the longest waiting lists for treatment and procedures because of the theatre closures.

UHW has 431 inpatients and 85-day procedure beds provides general medical, surgical and maternity care to over 500,000 people living in south Kilkenny and Waterford City and County. It is also the designated cancer centre for the south-east, providing rapid access assessment for breast, prostate, lung and skin cancers.

Ms O'Neill has been involved in the campaign group since 2012 when the south-east regional network was broken up. “Back in 2010 Waterford Regional Hospital, as it was then, was known as the main hospital in the region and it was one of the best functioning hospitals in the country.

“What I don't understand is that our taxes are funding the health services.

"We have a right to have the services we need where we live and not be told we have to go to Cork or Dublin for them.”

Ms O'Neill wants to see UHW being reinstated as the regional hospital in the south-east. "Starving the hospital of funding can't be in the best interests of patients," she said.

She said the group met regularly with hospital management and local TDS but felt like they were getting nowhere. "We are talking about our health; it is not like we are wanting potholes to be filled.”

Chief officer with the South East community health centre Kate Killeen-White said she could not defend the situation in Waterford.

Responding to the Irish Examiner's publication of images of people sleeping on the floor of the psychiatric unit of the hospital, Ms Killeen-White said: "the reality is that demand often exceeds supply".

She said there are plans for an alternative unit in the future.