Man (91) who spent 29 hours on trolley was ‘caught in crossfire’

The 91-year-old patient who spent 29 hours on a trolley in Tallaght hospital this week was "caught in the crossfire" in a conflict between emergency department staff and management in the hospital, according to Minister for Health Leo Varadkar.

Mr Varadkar said conflict was “going on for a long time. I would like them to work together but it’s not happening at the moment”. It was “indefensible” that any patient was forced to spend more than 24 hours in an emergency department, he added. *

The Minister said he spoke yesterday to the patient in question to ascertain “what the facts were”.

The patient was “unhappy” that his personal details had made their way into the public domain and about the claims made about him.

Facts

“I’ve spoken to the patient myself because I wanted to find out what the facts were,” he said.

“The patient was unhappy that information was put in the public domain that made him identifiable, information about his illness, his wife, and how long he was married to his wife.

“I think the patient has to be at the centre of this. I’m a big supporter of patient advocacy and I will always defend a doctor or a nurse who advocates on behalf of patients – I think that’s part of their duty – but misrepresenting a patient experience or using their clinical information in the media without their consent is not patient advocacy. It’s something quite different.”

Not isolated incident

In terms of elderly patients being left on trolleys for more than 24 hours, Mr Varadkar said this was “not an isolated incident”.

“It is indefensible that anyone should spend more than 24 hours in an emergency department,” he said.

“Unfortunately on any given day, there could be 30 or 40 people spending more than 24 hours in an emergency department, and most of them are elderly people because most of the people in hospitals now are elderly people. That’s the reality of it.”

The HSE said it will receive a report in the coming days on the reasons why the man was left on a hospital trolley for such a long time, but added that the emergency department was obviously under pressure.

The national director for acute hospitals with the HSE, Liam Woods, told RTÉ Radio a further 16 beds would be opening in the hospital soon.

* This article was amended on Monday, November 9th, 2015