A SEVERELY handicapped man who cannot walk or talk spent 30 hours on a trolley at Cork University Hospital (CUH) waiting for a bed and leaving his sisters to care for him in full view of other patients, it was claimed yesterday.
Graham Dempsey (33) from Cork city is physically handicapped, suffers from MS and scoliosis (curvature of the back) and needs full-time care. He became ill at a respite centre on Friday and was taken to the hospital for treatment for vomiting and dehydration.
His older sister, Betty O'Regan, said he presented at the hospital at 9.30am on Friday and still had not received a bed when they decided to bring him home at 3pm on Saturday. Ms O'Regan said she was "appalled" by the failure of staff to respond to her brother's urgent needs. "My father calls people like Graham 'the forgotten people'. He was vomiting all the time and he was eventually put on a trolley, but someone like Graham can't stay on a trolley for long because of the scoliosis in his back.
"Graham can't go up to the bathroom so he wears nappies all the time. The staff just left him in the wet nappy. His nappy was soaking and we wanted a bed so we could change him in privacy.
"We didn't want a private room or an en suite - just somewhere where we could change his nappy without other patients around us."
Ms O'Regan said her brother was finally given a drip while on a trolley at 9pm on Friday. She said she begged staff to find a bed for her brother as his scoliosis meant he was in considerable pain on the trolley.
As Friday evening progressed, Ms O'Regan said her brother had a number of "fit like" episodes because of the stress. Ms O'Regan spent the night in her brother's wheelchair while her sister Anita had not even a chair to sit on.
At lunchtime on Saturday Mr Dempsey's condition had improved somewhat. However, he was still weak and had a high temperature. Hospital staff reportedly informed Ms O'Regan that her brother would have to spend at least another day on a trolley. Ms O'Regan and her sister made the decision to bring him home despite his "sky high temperature".
A spokeswoman for the HSE South said yesterday: "CUH regrets that the family were unhappy with the treatment they received.Every effort is made to ensure that patients are treated with the dignity and courtesy they are entitled to.
"The patient was discharged from hospital on Saturday morning and hospital staff are available to directly liaise with the family to address their concerns."