CUH consultant: We are not overwhelmed by Covid - keep coming for medical treatment

Figures published by the HSE this week showed that CUH was among several hospitals without intensive care beds as the country grapples with a second wave of Covid-19 infections. File picture: Clare Keogh

A leading infectious disease consultant at Cork University Hospital (CUH) has confirmed that the hospital is not overwhelmed by Covid-19, is managing current pressures, and has urged patients to continue attending for medical treatment.

Professor Mary Horgan said it was not unusual for intensive care beds to be at capacity at this time of year and confirmed that just one patient was in ICU with Covid-19.

Figures published by the HSE this week showed that CUH was among several hospitals without intensive care beds as the country grapples with a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

“It’s not unusual for ICU beds to be at capacity, the challenge now is that we have Covid on top of this,” Professor Horgan told the Irish Examiner.

“There is a fear out there that the place is overwhelmed with patients with Covid-19 and people might get it from them. That is not the case,” she added.

Covid is a component of our health service rather than its entirety and it’s really important that we’re really mindful of the whole health service and that people get care for everything

The president of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland said doctors are seeing higher anxiety levels among patients but that people need to live with caution rather than fear and be reassured that contingency plans are in place to deal with current challenges.

“It’s really important to assure the public that contingency plans are in place, the hospital is not full of patients with coronavirus, but that we are busy, as would be expected at this time of year, and patients should not be afraid to attend for treatment,” Professor Horgan said.

The CUH medic also confirmed that staff absences due to Covid-19 are a “challenge”: 

“There are more staff off, and that can happen because they test positive themselves or they are close contacts and both of those result in somebody being out for the required 14 days. Because of that some wards and departments have been impacted," she said.

Professor Horgan said it is important that non-Covid services continue to treat and care for patients presenting with other illnesses, such as cancer, or those requiring emergency medical care.

“Covid is a component of our health service rather than its entirety and it’s really important that we’re really mindful of the whole health service and that people get care for everything,” Professor Horgan said.

The “unintended consequences” of a Level 5 lockdown on the health service and the wellbeing of everyone should be considered, she said, accepting there is “no easy answer”.

“It’s getting the balance between protecting the public and protecting the health service but also ensuring that people’s physical and mental wellbeing beyond Covid is taken into the whole equation,” she said.