People in the eastern region have been urged to only attend the accident and emergency unit of Dublin's main hospitals if absolutely necessary. Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent, reports.
The plea from the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the Irish Nurses' Organisation came last evening after a day which saw over a 100 patients on trolleys in A & E units across five city hospitals.
One of these, a patient at Beaumont hospital, has been waiting on a trolley for a bed since 7 p.m. on Friday. The INO's general secretary, Mr Liam Doyle, said that at lunchtime there were 33 patients on trolleys awaiting beds in the Mater, 17 on trolleys in Beaumont, 19 on trolleys in St James's, 15 on trolleys in the A & E and a further 12 on trolleys in the day care ward of Tallaght hospital; with a further eight on trolleys at James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown.
He said that despite claims by the health authority that the hospitals were not in crisis, the situation for these patients and the staff caring for them was critical. "Nursing staff are simply not in a position to provide the quality of nursing care that is required by these patients and any care given cannot be given in a context of dignity and privacy," Mr Doyle said.
He urged the hospital's managers to meet the INO immediately to discuss ways of opening the 200 beds closed by the hospitals earlier this year due to funding difficulties.
A spokeswoman for the Eastern Region Health Authority said 40 patients had been removed from trolleys by late afternoon and beds would likely also be found for others later.