This article is from page 9 of the 2011-07-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
A CLARE member of the HSE West Forum has called for trolley watch figures for Ennis General Hospital to be clarified.
Green Party Councillor Brian Meaney made the comment in the wake of INMO (the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation) figures showing that the number of people waiting on trolleys at Ennis General Hospital increased during the first six months of this year, to reach the highest levels in four years.
The INMO says that, nationally, there is an increase in overcrowding in hospitals.
Between January and June of this year, there were 363 patients on trolleys in Ennis. This is an increase on 215 during the first six months of this year and an increase on 251 two years ago.
The figure for 2008 was 160 and 804 in 2007, according to the figures.
Nationally, the increase so far this year compared to 2006 was 37 per cent; 67 per cent compared to 2007 and 20 per cent compared to last year.
However, Councillor Meaney says he would like to see a breakdown on how the figures are compiled.
“I would like to see how these figures are being calculated. I’ve gone to the accident and emergency at night. You do have people on trolleys but it would be in the accident and emergency. These are not corridors.
“I know many people whose lives have been saved because they have been on a bed with wheels. I am not underestimating genuine instances of people having spent long hours on corridors across the country, but I would like to see how the figures are being calculated,” said Cllr Meaney.
Mary Fogarty, who is the INMO spokesperson in the mid-west, said there is insufficient capacity at Ennis General Hospital.
“There is a concern. We have always had a concern that there aren’t enough beds in the system,” she said, adding that there are fears the situation may worsen.
“There is a shortage of nursing staff. There is a concern that if any more acute beds close in the region, they (figures) will get higher,” she said.
“In the short term, we don’t see it improving but we would hope that it would improve,” she added.