THE accident and emergency department of Cork University Hospital is treating five times more patients a year than it was designed for, the Southern Health board admitted yesterday.
A report by an Australian consultant who worked in the unit for four months last year, and which was leaked to the media over the weekend, praised the commitment and skill of hospital staff but drew a bleak picture of the building and its facilities.
The Southern Health Board's chief executive, Mr Sean Hurley, said there were several inaccuracies in Dr Tony Harrington's report. But he added that the shortcomings of the department in the 600 bed hospital had been covered in a report, now lodged with the Department of Health, which recommended widespread changes.
Mr Hurley denied there were four fractures a week on average missed in the accident and emergency unit and said the figure was closer to 1 to 4 per cent, which was similar to other hospitals internationally. Claims that X rays were taken outside lead lined rooms, leaving patients and staff in danger of exposure to ionising radiation were not correct.
The health board was aware the unit needed upgrading and had conducted its own survey before Dr Harrington made his submission before returning to Australia last August. "In compiling his report I regret Dr Harrington did not discuss or cross check with management in the hospitals, as there are a number of inaccuracies and he has not given the full picture," Mr Hurley said.
The hospital, which was planned in the 1950s and built in the 1970s, needed more staff and new equipment. The fabric of the building itself also needed to be addressed.
The consultant emergency physician in charge of the hospital's accident and emergency unit, Dr Stephen Cusack, who was responsible for the report sent to the Department of Health in November, said he had covered all the items raised by Dr Harrington.
"Regrettably, crowding is not new in Irish hospitals, but in the case of the Cork University Hospital there is a commitment to find solutions. I am assured by the chief executive the emergency service is now a priority. We have identified the problems and we will be putting them right," he said.