Empty Mallow hospital beds while patients wait on trolleys is 'immoral', says health minister

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill says vacant beds and underused services must help ease pressure on Cork's overcrowded hospitals

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill atan event to mark 150 years of rehabilitation services at Clontarf Hospital on Friday. Picture: Marc O’Sullivan

It is an “immoral” use of tax payers' money to have hospital beds empty in Mallow while patients are on trolleys in Cork hospitals instead of being transferred, the health minister has warned.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said the ongoing trolley crisis in Cork hospitals “cannot be sustained”, also saying the pressures facing patients in HSE South-West are seen across HSE regions.

This follows reports in the Irish Examiner of disagreement between clinical directors at Cork University Hospital and management in HSE South-West over how resources are allocated.

Ms Carroll MacNeill said on Friday: “I want to see the resources that we have invested in used.”  She recently opened an extension at Mallow General Hospital.

“This week there has been variously 29 [or] 24 [or] 23 patients on trolleys in CUH and at the same time there's been 14 to 16 beds vacant in Mallow,” she said.

"The idea of a person from Cork lying on trolleys in CUH while there is an empty bed in Mallow is an immoral use of the tax payer's money. It’s an immoral way to care for patients in the broader community.”

Speaking after an event to mark 150 years of rehabilitation services at Clontarf Hospital, she said: “The Mercy Hospital got a virtual ward with 15 beds on it as an initial investment. Over the last number of weeks, there’s been no more than three patients on that virtual ward. It’s not right.”

Virtual wards allow patients to finish their treatment at home, monitored by a hospital. 

Ms Carroll McNeill said it was “really challenging” to understand why these were not more used. A new endoscopy unit in Bantry Hospital should also be used “all the time” she added.

Gaps between acute hospitals and other facilities are “not unique to the South-West”, she also said.

“This is everybody’s responsibility,” the minister said, and referenced consultants as well as management, including the regional executive director and integrated healthcare area managers.

She added: “It’s the taxpayer and the patient that matters here." 

In response HSE Southwest said: “HSE South West notes the minister’s comments regarding pressures at Cork University Hospital and fully acknowledges the ongoing challenges associated with high demand and patient flow.” 

It said “significant work” was under way across Cork and Kerry to expand how hospitals work together.

Mallow takes “transfers and admissions” from CUH, the Mercy and University Hospital Kerry as well as caring for local patients, it said.

“Teams at other Cork hospitals can and do transfer patients in order to keep beds available for those who require high dependency care,” it said.

The region will “continue to work closely with the Department of Health and the minister to progress further measures that support sustainable improvements in patient flow and hospital capacity".