Donnelly defends investment in CUH as 19 people aged over 75 wait longer than a day for bed

After consultant warns overcrowding is costing lives, health minister points to 'unprecedented investment' in Cork hospital

CUH faces a 'major capacity issue', says Professor Conor Deasy, consultant in emergency medicine.

Cork University Hospital had 19 people aged over 75 waiting longer than 24 hours for a bed today,  but the health minister has defended State investment in the facility.

On Thursday, Professor Conor Deasy, consultant in emergency medicine at CUH and president of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine, warned they faced a “massive capacity issue”.

“This crowding is costing lives,” he warned, criticising funding limits on plans to tackle overcrowding, saying it is not keeping pace with demand.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said there has been “an unprecedented investment” in CUH, which was funded for 1,177 extra staff, 70 beds, and budget increases.

“I fully acknowledge the situation this week in CUH is very, very difficult,” said Mr Donnelly.

“Any hospital that sees a 1/3 increase in presentations over a number of weeks will be under pressure and that pressure is not a function of a lack of capacity. There is no hospital that can take that kind of increase over a number of weeks and not be under pressure.”

Health minister Stephen Donnelly acknowledged that 'the situation this week in CUH is very, very difficult'. Picture: Brian Lawless

However, he was critical of how patients in need of further supports are discharged.

“It has to be said that capacity on its own is not enough, and further reform is required,” he told the Irish Examiner.

“The reality is that CUH weekend discharge rates are not at the level we need them to be at. I’ve had concerns over some of the discharge practices in CUH.” 

He said HSE CEO Bernard Gloster shares his concerns.

“Bernard Gloster is not satisfied. Bernard went to CUH recently with his senior team,” Mr Donnelly said. “They had a pretty straight conversation, not just with CUH but with the hospitals in Cork, around load-balancing between the hospitals, around discharge, around the working relationship between the acutes and community care.

“And what we saw the day after the chief executive and his team went down was a much higher discharge rate,” he said.

It is understood one of the key enablers of this was action taken by community services.

“I fully accept the need for more capacity but we must acknowledge the massive additional capacity they’ve had in the last three years and we must keep the pressure up in terms of reforms,” he said.

Nationally, 365 patients faced delays in being discharged. It is accepted that shortages of rehabilitation beds are a main barrier to resolving this.