A quarter of all medical admissions to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda are having to spend their entire hospital stay in A&E, according to a new report drawn up for the Health Service Executive (HSE).
It states that there is inadequate space to properly examine these patients or perform procedures on them and alarmingly it reveals: "This has resulted in adverse events for the patient." The reports says these patients cannot access routine inpatient basic care such as food, water, and washing facilities. "They are fed sandwiches for their entire stay." They also have difficulty accessing diagnostics.
The report on the Drogheda hospital was drawn up by the joint department of medicine for the Louth hospitals, which includes the Lourdes hospital and Louth County Hospital in Dundalk.
It says there are insufficient numbers of adequately-trained nurses to look after patients and inadequate numbers of doctors overseeing their care. "These patients get better despite us, rather than as a result of the care they receive."
The report concludes: "Large numbers of patients are managed in a site not fit for the purpose by persons not trained for this purpose. It is a testament to staff that no fatalities have resulted to date with medical patients."
Medical patients would include those with a wide range of conditions such as heart attacks, chest conditions, strokes, pneumonia and diabetes.
The report, which has been seen by The Irish Times, was presented to the HSE at a meeting in Navan in December.
It stresses that the increased workload the Lourdes hospital has to deal with is not reflected in official figures because patients who have spent their whole time in hospital in A&E are not recorded when the total figure for annual discharges is calculated. When patients do get admitted to a ward, it says this is done in an unplanned way to the next available bed. "The result is 'safari' ward rounds, and all of the risks associated with this."
The HSE is planning to move all acute medicine to the Drogheda hospital.
Asked about the concerns raised by the joint department of medicine, the HSE said it will shortly be starting a building programme at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
The HSE said this will enhance facilities there to cater for the growing demands on its services from a rapidly-expanding population and to provide for the improved services that are planned as part of the reconfiguration of health services in the northeast region.
"In the interim, in fact, it is intended to utilise the facilities in the Louth County hospital to cater for more patients from Our Lady of Lourdes so as to alleviate pressure on its services," it said.
The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland also raised concerns about the Lourdes hospital following an inspection recently.
It found there were insufficient numbers of doctors in the department of medicine at the hospital to ensure patients are not put at risk.
HSE figures have confirmed that overcrowding in the hospital's A&E unit is an ongoing problem.