MORE THAN 700 hospital beds across the State have now been closed due to cutbacks, a survey by the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) has found.
It said the absence of these beds, combined with the fact that about 900 others are blocked by delayed discharges, means more patients are having to spend hours on trolleys in hospital emergency departments waiting for inpatient beds.
INO general secretary Liam Doran said the survey had established overcrowding in emergency departments had increased 31 per cent this September compared with September 2007.
Among the worst affected hospitals are Merlin Park Regional Hospital in Galway where 43 beds are closed; the Mercy Hospital in Cork where 31 beds are closed; Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, which has 36 beds closed; St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny which has 35 beds closed; Sligo General where 26 beds are closed; Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin where 25 beds are closed; Naas General Hospital where 24 beds are closed; and Letterkenny General Hospital where 22 beds are closed.
Mr Doran said the new data demonstrated the severity of the crisis already facing our health services. “It is a sad but stark truth that the health service has never been less prepared to face the onslaught of winter, with all of the additional demands it brings, not to mention the challenge that will be faced by managing the swine flu pandemic,” he said.
Janette Byrne of Patients Together said the increase in bed closures and delayed discharges were proof of “a blatant disregard by Government for the country’s sick and vulnerable”.
Asked about the survey, Minister for Health Mary Harney said: “We have a very tight budget situation this year. It will be even tighter next year when all our efforts will concentrate on seeking to maintain frontline services or services to patients as far as possible.” She added that notwithstanding the pressures the system was under, more patients were being treated; HSE figures showed activity levels were up so far this year, she said. In a recent report, the HSE itself confirmed that 519 beds were closed in hospitals between January and July this year in a bid to cut costs.