No peace of mind for this ‘trolley dolly’

YOUR recent editorial made me smile as it gave the impression that VHI customers have direct access to hospital beds, which is not the case.

Being one such customer for over 34 years I had reason to be admitted to A&E at the CUH in early December, joining the long queue of both public and private patients for beds before finally securing one 28 hours later.

Three days later, at 7pm, I was evicted (and I don’t use the term lightly — I dressed in a corridor while the new patient settled herself into my bed) by (and I quote my consultant’s registrar) “the bed management team as we need your bed for another patient and, as you live close by, you can always come back in through A&E, if the need arises.”

Well, indeed, the need did seriously arise and despite trojan efforts by my GP to have me re-admitted directly to a bed, I once again found myself in A&E.

With snow and ice deep on the ground outside, I was placed on a trolley and parked next to a long, perishing cold, window and there I remained until 3.30am (16 hours) when the arrival of a mad drunk to A&E suddenly resulted in eight of us “trolley dollies” acquiring beds on wards. God bless the drunk but God help A&E staff for having to deal with him.

My bed, in a 5-bedded ward (despite being VHI-entitled to a private ward but, who’s complaining, I was in great company) will cost my health insurer €655 per night. The time has come for VHI customers to seriously question the service we receive for the outrageously high subscriptions we will now have to pay.

There was a time when we did indeed have “the peace of mind it can bring” but those days are long gone and I don’t see them coming back any time soon.

Bed management teams need to learn to “manage” their beds. The second bed I eventually occupied had been vacant for 24 hours ... a lost €655.

Cost-effectiveness and efficiency should be the core of any hospital administration.

Having witnessed first-hand what A&E medical staff are dealing with — the physical and verbal abuse from those suffering the effects of drugs and alcohol — the HSE Service Plan will have its work cut out to make any significant dent on the inefficiencies that currently exist.

Kay Doyle

Douglas

Co Cork