Cork hospital buying bedspace in private hospitals to counter overcrowding

A Cork hospital is buying beds in private hospitals in a bid to reduce severe overcrowding in its emergency department.

Mercy University Hospital's emergency department is currently coping with a high volume of very ill, high dependency patients needing to be admitted.

The hospital's full escalation policy has been implemented, with all beds, including surgical beds, open to deal with the high demand.

“Where possible, MUH is buying capacity in private hospitals to treat some patients,” a spokesperson for the hospital said.

The HSE's winter plan allows for the purchase of short-stay beds in private hospitals to improve patient flow.

People arriving at the ED are warned there may be long delays due to a high volume of patients needing medical care.

According to the HSE's TrolleyGAR, there were 32 admitted patients waiting on trolleys in the hospital's ED on Tuesday – the highest number so far this year.

Nineteen patients were waiting for more than nine hours for a bed, with five waiting over 24 hours.

The situation had eased slightly today when the number of patients on trolleys had reduced to 20. 11 were waiting for over nine hours and seven for more than 24 hours.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation 433 admitted patients were waiting on trolleys for beds in MUH last month, compared to 291 during the same month last year.

The INMO's Trolley Watch shows that 568 patients waited for beds in the country's public acute hospitals on Wednesday.

On Tuesday a 'trolley spike' was reached when 640 patients without hospital beds – the highest figure since the record high of 760 was reached on January 6 and repeated the following day.

The worst-hit hospitals today were University Hospital Limerick, with 63 patients requiring a bed.

Cork University Hospital had 59 patients waiting and University Hospital Galway had 44.

Every morning INMO members count how many patients are waiting in the ED for a bed and how many are waiting in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

Patients are often treated on trolleys in corridors but they may also be on chairs in waiting rooms, or simply wherever there is space.

INMO general secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, has set out the steps that need to be taken by the next government to ease overcrowding.

“Nobody should have to endure this in a modern health service," she said.

According to the HSE, 420 patients were waiting for beds in the country's acute hospitals on Wednesday, a 52% increase on the same day last year.

There were 222 patients in EDs waiting for over nine hours and 85 waiting over 24 hours. On the same day last year, there were 276 waiting, with 104 waiting for over nine hours.