IT WAS the calm before the storm yesterday at Beaumont Hospital’s emergency department reception. On arrival, it may have seemed like a speedy service was just the other side of the triage nurse.
Most people reported they were waiting less than three hours and were pleasantly surprised with how quiet it all seemed to be.
Barry Roche from Baldoyle was delighted to be on his way home so quickly, having been seen by a doctor just an hour after he presented with abdominal pains. While he still had roughly a seven-hour stay in the emergency department when finished with X-rays and further tests, he was representative of a relatively content mood in the waiting room.
However, on the far side of the doors it was a very different story for patients unlucky enough to need to be referred on for further treatment. For the 45 people who required a bed, at least a day loomed of sitting on trolleys and chairs.
“The waiting room is only sometimes indicative of what is going on inside,” said Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation industrial relations officer for Beaumont Hospital, Eddie Mathews.
“The issue is not people waiting in the waiting room. Inside the scene is extremely busy and geographically overcrowded. It is impossible to deliver the type of care in these conditions that is needed by the patient,” he said.
He described a scene where the fluid nature of patients’ health meant people were constantly being shifted between trolleys and chairs in an attempt to comfort those most in need. “It is an old story but a story unfortunately we need to keep on telling,” he said.
While the organisation’s “trolley watch” figures yesterday reached record levels throughout the State, it was not an unusual day for Beaumont Hospital considering the time of year.
Yesterday, 45 people were waiting for beds in the emergency department. On the same date last year there were 47.
“People should be in and out in six hours. The department here can take 16 to 20 people at the very most,” Mr Mathews said.