MAJOR OVERCROWDING in the AE unit of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda led to emergencies having to be diverted to other hospitals in the northeast region over the last two days.
The HSE diverted patients presenting with medical conditions to Our Lady's Hospital in Navan and Louth County Hospital in Dundalk and surgical patients were diverted to Cavan General Hospital and Navan hospital.
The situation was, however, back to near normal by last evening. "While it is still quite busy in the emergency department, the hospital is now back on call and patients can be referred to the emergency department as normal," the HSE said.
The earlier crisis, the HSE said, had been caused by an increased number of patients turning up at AE in Drogheda over the weekend. But it confirmed 22 beds in the hospital were inappropriately occupied by people fit for discharge but who had nowhere to go.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) said there were 38 patients on trolleys in the hospital's AE unit early yesterday, with many of them on corridors and even in the outpatient waiting area.
Tony Fitzpatrick, INO industrial relations officer for the region, said part of the reason for the problem was the HSE continued to centralise more services for the northeast region at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital without adding extra capacity to the hospital.
More patients were having to go to Drogheda AE even though a taskforce report last year found it unfit for purpose, he said. Pressure on the hospital would increase in coming weeks as services in other hospitals were cut to save costs.
Cuts in orthopaedic elective surgery services at Navan hospital and in outpatient clinics, endoscopies, elective surgery and day services at Cavan/Monaghan hospitals have already been announced.
From next Monday a ward with 24 surgical beds at the Louth County Hospital is to be closed and eight surgical beds will be opened instead on a medical ward. In addition, elective surgery at the hospital will cease on December 8th until the new year.
Mr Fitzpatrick said: "It's a complete joke that at a time when they are in crisis and when they have overcrowding in Drogheda that they are then curtailing services elsewhere."
Local Sinn Féin councillor Thomas Sharkey said the waiting times at the AE unit in Drogheda would be even worse if the cuts at Dundalk hospital, which he condemned, went ahead.
Asked about the cost-cutting measures proposed for Dundalk hospital, the HSE said hospitals in Louth and Meath were, despite efforts to contain costs, operating above their available budget and this overspend had to be made up by the end of the year.
"Meetings have been taking place with staff at Louth County Hospital in relation to the proposed cost containment measures. Full details of the measures will be announced by the HSE as soon as all parties are informed," it said.