Protests are being held at a number of the country’s most struggling A&E departments today, with locals encouraged to actively voice their frustration at the ‘worsening A&E crisis’ in Irish hospitals.
Hospital Groups around the country are to hold demonstrations in accident and emergency departments this lunchtime in Navan, Drogheda, Limerick, Cavan, Ennis in Mullingar as Ireland’s A&E crisis escalates.
Protestors will gather outside Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan, along with Our Lady of Lourdes’ Hospital in Drogheda, with separate protests also being held at Cavan General Hospital and others, with people expected to come out in numbers to express dissatisfaction about changes to their local services.
The protests come as new ambulance bypass protocols between Our Lady’s Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital are set to come into force later this week. From this Wednesday, critically ill patients who would normally be brought to Navan A&E by ambulance will now instead be taken to nearby hospitals, including Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda.
Consultants in Drogheda expressed deep concerns to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, who signed off on the change, that patients may die because of the “inevitable surge in clinical activity” this winter. Just days later, fears about the change were compounded when 11 ambulances were left stranded outside Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda as they waited for hours to get patients onto a trolley or bed in the A&E department due to severe overcrowding.
While the change was meant to come into effect today, it has been delayed after concerns were voiced that it was a “significantly wider” proposal than what had been agreed by the Government with the HSE.
Speaking in advance of the A&E protests, TD and Save Navan Hospital Campaign Chair Peadar Tóibín described the situation unfolding in Irish emergency departments as “an unmitigated disaster” which is costing lives.
“People have had enough of the unmitigated disaster unfolding in A&Es across the country,” he said. “It’s costing lives. Last night, sick children were forced to sleep in cars in the car park of Drogheda Paediatric A&E due to the lack of space in that A&E. Six nights ago 11 ambulances waited 5 hours just to offload sick patients into a full adult A&E in the same hospital.
“There were no ambulances available in Cavan and Monaghan for an extended period of time because so many ambulances were tied up in Drogheda. 17 Consultants in Drogheda and 4 in Mullingar have written to the Minister for Health to warn him of the impending threat to life and health if the bypass and closure of Navan A&E proceeds. And Limerick University Hospital remains a war zone due to the closure of Nenagh and Ennis. We have record A&E waiting times and trolley counts”.
The Aontu politician said that people have become infuriated with the situation, which has left the most vulnerable without the treatment they urgently need.
“The way the Government and the HSE are managing this health crisis is a disaster and it’s getting worse. People are furious as the old and infirm and being left for hours without treatment. People are furious at the dangerous position staff are being put in.
“People are furious at the fact that HSE senior management are ignoring the Minister for Health”.
He urged citizens to join the protests taking place at 1pm on Monday, as he went on to highlight the situation at Navan Hospital in his own Meath West constituency, slamming a reduction in A&E capacity:
“In relation to Navan Hospital the HSE gave the 30th of June as the closure date for Navan A&E. A publicly embarrassed Minister had to cancel that plan. They then gave a date for the ambulance bypass of Navan saying they had Ministerial authority. It turns out they did not. They were directed to implement a slimmed down ambulance bypass and duly ignored this too, issuing the original protocol to ambulance staff yesterday contradicting the Minister’s directions”.
“In a democracy the public servants do what they are told to do by the elected representatives. The HSE are inverting the democratic process. It is critical that the Minister gets a grip of the situation. It’s critical that we stop closing A&E capacity in an A&E capacity crisis and start investing in front line services now before it’s too late for many people”.
Taking to Twitter, the TD reminded people of the protests taking place this lunchtime, while highlighting some troubling stats relating to waiting times and the repercussions of overcrowding in Irish hospitals:
Record waiting times in A&E.
100,000 people on trollies this year.
75000 people waited for treatment but left because of record waiting times
360 people dying of A&E overcrowding
Protests today outside A&Es in Navan, Drogheda, Cavan, Mullingar, Ennis, Limerick & Nenagh pic.twitter.com/U5UsV9qwJf
— Peadar Tóibín TD (@Toibin1) December 12, 2022