Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My adjournment issue relates to Mayo University Hospital and the consistent overcrowding at its emergency department. It was only a number of weeks ago that the emergency department actually issued a public statement to the wider community surrounding Castlebar and County Mayo for people not to present unless it was absolutely necessary, because they were so overwhelmed with demand. It is a crazy situation for an emergency department to ask people not to attend. It is a recurring situation and is an issue I have been highlighting for many years in my community. I know staff who work in the hospital and on that day trolleys overflowed into the cafe beside the emergency department. That is how bad it was. It is getting to the stage when staff morale is at an all-time low. People are afraid to go into the emergency department. No patient should be left on a trolley for a considerable period but some elderly and extremely ill people are being left on trolleys for very long times. It is an issue that needs to be addressed forthwith.

The accident and emergency unit in Roscommon was closed a number of years ago and that has led to an increase in demand at Mayo University Hospital. It is not the only reason but it is a contributing factor. Patients are also presenting from Galway because, believe it or not, the hospital situation in Galway is actually worse. People are hedging their bets and presenting at Mayo University Hospital hoping that they will be seen more quickly.

We have an ageing population, which is the case throughout the country but is especially the case in the west, and this is leading to increased admissions too. Another very serious issue relating to this problem is that hospitals are now finding themselves under increased scrutiny, particularly by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, which runs the trolley watch service. This scrutiny puts increasing pressure on staff and hospital management to keep the figures as low as possible. It is my belief that there are patients being moved at night to the medical assessment unit and the day services unit, which are vacant at night because they operate for day procedures. Those patients are being moved from the corridors into those units to give the appearance of fewer trolleys in the corridors. It is my understanding that they are brought back during the day so that day services operations can resume. Those patients are not picked up by trolley watch as being there from the previous day and are counted as new figures. This is information the Minister can get if he so wishes.

This is not in any way a criticism of hospital management or the staff. They are under such severe pressure from the public and are doing everything they can to make the hospital work as well as possible but they cannot cope with the demand. Capacity is the key issue, a lack of beds and staff to man those beds, as well as a lack of step-down facilities for patients who do not need to take up hospital beds and could be moved on somewhere else.

There is also an issue regarding rheumatology services at Mayo University Hospital. A full service was promised to the hospital but there was a row-back on that promise. The consultant was actually appointed to Leitrim and the intention is that the consultant will service Mayo University Hospital on a visiting basis, with what will be 11 hours' service per week for the entire county. Rheumatology affects many thousands of people so 11 hours per week, while welcome as it is an increase on zero, is not close to being enough to look after the patients with such conditions. These conditions are quite debilitating and the people affected require disability payments but they are being asked to travel large distances to Merlin Park in Galway or Manorhamilton in Leitrim for services.

Mobility is an issue and finances are an issue in terms of getting around. Many patients cannot drive themselves to an appointment and rely on friends and family members to transport them to services that have a huge impact on their daily lives, so it is crucial that these patients are provided with services in the local community and I ask the Minister to review the 11 hours being provided to Mayo University Hospital with a view to increasing that service. I am sure there are huge demands on resources but, with a county the geographic size of Mayo and the number of patients with that illness, a full-time service is required.

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