Munster's major hospitals at crisis point

Emergency Department at Cork University Hospital (CUH) Co Cork. Picture: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

The major hospitals in Munster are reaching crisis point as Covid-19 cases soar, staff absences increase, and the number of patients waiting on trolleys climbs.

The number of people in hospital with the virus has increased by 56% in the past week, and the ICU figure has risen by 73%.

Some 800 staff from hospitals in Cork and Limerick were off duty this week for reasons related to Covid-19, while Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Limerick are both also dealing with dozens of patients on trolleys.

The two hospitals are also the worst affected in terms of Covid-19 numbers of any hospital in the country. CUH had 145 Covid-19 patients yesterday, with UHL dealing with 150. Of these, 26 were in ICU between the two facilities, and there were just a handful of critical care beds available.

Hospitals have struggled with staffing. Picture: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

CUH was also dealing with some 23 patients on trolleys, while UHL had 36. In contrast, some Dublin hospitals — Beaumont and Connolly — had no patients on trolleys. 

The Chief Medical Officers in the Republic and the North have said they are "gravely concerned about the unsustainably high level" of Covid-19 infection on the island. | Read more: https://t.co/5fiFLzsYZ5 pic.twitter.com/eVjTA7kSCK

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 15, 2021

The situation is being exacerbated by huge rates of forced absenteeism among staff. Limerick hospitals alone had almost 600 staff absent across the group, while CUH had up to 200 nurses and 40 doctors off duty during the past week, according to the hospital's clinical director.

These figures come as the Taoiseach acknowledged that public health restrictions may have been lifted too quickly in December, a situation which has contributed to the current surge in cases.

Addressing this decision yesterday, the Taoiseach said "in hindsight", the decision was the wrong one.

He was speaking as 3,498 more cases of Covid-19 were announced and health officials once again pleaded with people to remain at home and reduce their contacts.

"In hindsight, knowing what we know now, would we have done what we did a month ago? Obviously not," Mr Martin told Virgin Media News.

"Nobody predicted, in any model, the level of community transmission that we're currently experiencing, but at the time we were coming out of the six week, level five series of restrictions, that was preceded by a level three-max series of restrictions, Ireland has been on a lot of restrictions right throughout this pandemic."

💬“In hindsight, knowing what we know now, would we have done what we done a month ago? Obviously not."

Taoiseach Micheál Martin on reopening Ireland ahead of Christmas#VMNews pic.twitter.com/cFDzZqzU4u

— Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) January 15, 2021

It echoed remarks by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, who said the move to level three "turned out to be too quick".

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said the move late last year from Level 5 restrictions back to Level 3 ‘turned out to be too quick’. Mr Varadkar said that this was the advice given to the Government by the National Public Health Emergency team. | Read more: https://t.co/cCKY1UYLQW pic.twitter.com/x9WWCT2BfI

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 15, 2021

Dr Corinna Sadlier, Covid-19 clinical lead at CUH, cautioned the situation at healthcare facilities could worsen and that more staff absences are inevitable.

“The hospital is stretched at present owing to large numbers of patients with Covid-19, compounded further by staffing issues,” she said.

Cork artist Kevin O'Brien's tribute to Cork nurses painted outside CUH. File picture.

Pressures are so great this weekend at University Hospital Limerick that 20 theatre staff are being urgently vaccinated and redeployed from Nenagh to help.

A spokesman for the UHL hospital group said: “Theatre staff in Nenagh are redeploying to support the opening of critical care surge capacity in UHL to care for the sickest Covid and non-Covid patients. We are deeply indebted to all of our staff for the enormous efforts they are making to keep patients safe.”  

Nenagh clinical nurse manager Louise Morgan Walsh said: “We are so angry, we are scared, we are afraid.

We can see our co-workers going down with Covid and becoming very ill.”  

On Friday, University of Limerick Hospitals group head Colette Cowan said 579 staff, including over 200 nurses and 50 medical doctors, are off duty either sick with Covid-19 or isolating as close contacts.

“The next two weeks are going to be very difficult, we are in an emergency situation," she said.  

HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said ICUs are particularly affected by the shortages. Speaking at a briefing this week, he said redeployment of non-specialist staff is not ideal, but is currently the only option.

HSE figures this week show 6,357 staff were off work, including 3,444 in hospitals nationally. And a further 900 staff have been cocooning due to their own health conditions or family situation.