Woman (70) waiting in overcrowded University Hospital Limerick says 'it’s like a war zone'
David Raleigh
Margaret Griffin (70) was one of the 147 languishing on chairs and trolleys at the overcrowded corridors of the emergency department (ED) and wards at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) on Monday.
“It’s like a war zone,” said the Moyross native, as she and her daughter ventured out from inside the trolley trenches for a quick breath of fresh air.
The near-record level of overcrowding at the hospital was creating chaos for patients and staff.
Trolleys with patients hooked up to intravenous lines, sick bowls and urine bottles, lay cheek to jowl along the emergency department and its waiting zones.
At times, staff had to squeeze past their colleagues who were trying to treat patients in the overcrowded corridors. A notice on the floor of the emergency department zones read: “Do Not Obstruct Door Movement Area”.
Staff, including consultants, doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, and porters weaved in and out of trolleys backed up in the corridors.
Trolley after trolley was added to the seemingly never-ending trolley chaos. When one patient on a trolley as moved out, another two were added, and so on.
There were 54 patients at the emergency department waiting for a bed, and a further 93 on trolleys on wards, according to figures published by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) on Monday.
Medical staff looked pressured in what is by normal circumstances a pressure zone, but, Ms Griffin said “nobody should have to work in overcrowded spaces”.
“I’m here since ten o’clock this morning,” she said, six hours later, at 4pm.
She may be one of the lucky ones however, some have waited days.
“I saw a doctor after an hour and got an X-ray, blood taken, and a heart trace, and I haven't seen anyone since.”
“I think its my heart. I’m just waiting,” she said.
The conditions are chaotic, she offered.
“It’s a war-zone. The trolleys are double parked.”
“The waiting area is full, the departments inside are full and then you go into the (ED) which is full, it’s ridiculous.”
Her main issue is a lack of privacy, as trolleys with patients and loved ones are almost attached to one another in the cramped conditions.
“When the doctor examined me, there was another patient there, there is no privacy there.”
The HSE Mid West said a 96-bed block, constructed on the site of the hospital, was “imminent” and apologised for delays for patients.
It said a number of measures had been implemented to try to deal with ongoing patient overcrowding at UHL which is said were due to record levels of patient attendances.
