Varadkar: Health authorities scaling up emergency bed capacity as frontline staff prepare for surge
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said health authorities are scaling up their emergency bed capacity in hospitals as frontline staff prepare for a surge in Covid-19 infections.
Mr Varadkar, Health Minister Simon Harris and HSE CEO Paul Reid today visited Citywest hotel where another 2,000 beds for patients with the virus and suspect cases are being made available.
The giant hotel complex in Dublin is seeing its main hall, bedrooms and conference areas turned into a makeshift hospital. But the aim will be to ease pressure on acute hospitals caring for serious cases where people have the virus.
Mr Varadkar admitted there were problems getting virus tests done, but this was a global dilemma.
Ireland is trying to ramp up its lab testing and also attempting to secure more reagents, a lab liquid used during virus testing. Speaking in Citywest, he the plan now was to expand de-fact ICU bed capacity. This could be done with extra beds through private health groups, among areas:
“The last numbers I saw where that we've about 120 people in intensive care units. We have capacity in our intensive care units. And we also have the ability to turn other parts of the hospital into intensive care units, for example, theatres, other wards, recovery areas.
“As long as we have the ventilators, there's a lot that have arrived already and some more that are coming, we can expand our ICU capacity.
“So I think it's important that even when our ICUs are full and they are not full yet, we will be able to use the ICU and HDUs in the private hospitals, but also be able to turn wards, theatres, into de-facto ICUs with ventilators.
But it is going to be a struggle. And we're asking a lot of our healthcare staff. I know they're working really hard, and I know they're absolutely up to it.
He also outlined the shortage of lab facilities and reagents which have led to delays in testing:
“In Ireland we've decided as a country to do a lot of tests and we're in the top tier of countries in the world when it comes to the number of tests are doing. And that's the right thing to do in terms of containing virus. But we are running into difficulties, we need to be honest with people and frank about that.
"There is a global shortage of testing kits, there's a shortage of reagents, and we also need laboratory capacity.
“So we are going to hit bumps in the road where there are delays at particular points in time, but we'll do everything we can working with international partners and companies to make sure that we continue to maximise the number of tests that we do, and that we prioritize people working in health care facilities, in particular, as well as those who are sickest.
“But it is important to bear in mind, getting your test results in itself doesn't actually determine whether or not you get any better.
“And this is a virus that has no treatment. So the fact that somebody is delayed in getting their test results does actually determine in a any way when they get better or not. But it does help us to identify more cases due for tracing.
“One of the things we decided to do, and that was acted yesterday, was actually to step up contact tracing considerably because we have 1400 people now working on contact tracing.
"And that's going to help to make up in some way for the fact that there are delays in getting those test results.”
HSE CEO Paul Reid said health authorities were now furthering their own plan to equip and staff emergency facilities for patients infected with the virus:
He said the HSE were training up staff to work in ICUs as part of a “surge plan”.
“There is no particular hospital that has full ICU capacity at this point and time,” he added.
He said that health services were “scaling up” high dependency units and other beds that were regarded as equivalent to ICU beds.
Health Minister Simon Harris explained that, on top of the Dublin hotel facilities, other locations around the country would be used as makeshift hospitals.
“The first people who arrive here today [in Citywest], this afternoon, will have been referred from hospitals and are no longer in need of hospital care but are in need of isolation.
“All across the country, you will have a number of these centers in the major urban centers, in Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Waterford. They will have a further 1,200 bed capacity."
Mr Harris said it was known that with the virus that the vast majority of people didn't need acute or hospital care but needed supports.
“That's primarily what these facilities are for. Keeping people out of the hospital system.”
[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
