The board of St James's Hospital in Dublin has said that inadequate capacity in its intensive care and high-dependency units was a long-standing problem which had not been addressed on a long-term basis. Martin Wall reports.
The hospital, in a statement yesterday, said it would seek urgent talks with the Health Service Executive (HSE) to work towards a solution.
Earlier this week it emerged that St James's had to cancel up to 20 operations, including cancer surgery, for seriously ill patients due to a shortage of beds in the intensive care unit.
At the time all 15 intensive care beds were full, and patients were being ventilated in other parts of the hospital.
Hospital sources told The Irish Timesyesterday that the number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds at St James's had been increased from 10 to 15 in 2001. However, they said an agreement for a long-term solution, which would have involved the provision of more beds by 2004, was not delivered by health service management.
In its statement the board of St James's said it wished to emphasise that inadequate capacity in intensive care and high-dependency facilities was "a long-standing and growing problem within the hospital system".
The HSE said it was aware of the pressure on ICU capacity in St James's this week, and that "full support had been offered in terms of assistance to fast-track post-acute patients to other settings to free up ICU beds".
The HSE also offered assistance in upgrading beds within the hospital to provide higher-dependency capacity.
"To address this issue in the longterm, the HSE has embarked on a national bed capacity review which will include an assessment of critical care bed needs. This is expected to be completed in the coming months, and will provide a blueprint for the future development of all our hospitals."
The HSE said it looked forward to meeting with the hospital to discuss the current difficulties.
The Intensive Care Society of Ireland said earlier this week that there was a "massive" shortage of intensive care beds across the State. Patients were being put at risk as a result.
"In general, a critically ill patient who is denied any intensive care has a significantly increased chance of dying.
"Patient care is suffering and the society has no doubt that patient outcomes are being affected", said Dr Michael Power, the president of the society.