Hospital faces crisis unless beds reopen

The Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar will not make it through the winter unless the forty-one beds shut down by the HSE are re-opened according to a senior staff memeber."There has been no change in the difficulties that we are facing here at the hospital," said a leading hospital clinician despite the fact that the A&E Department was re-opened on Friday evening after 24-hours of being "off-call" last Thursday."The situation remains unresolved. There is an on-going shortage of emergency beds and we have made very little headway. There has been maybe one or two additional staff put into the A&E department, but the casualty is still overcrowded," he said."We need those beds re-opened to get through the winter, otherwise we simply won't make it."As the news flooded out that there was no room at Mullingar's A&E department on Thursday lunchtime of last week, twenty-three people were waiting on trolleys to be admitted, while even more bad news broke that an accident involving the death of a four-year-old boy on the Mullingar By-Pass had occurred. All hell had broken loose at the hospital.Ambulances were redirected to A&E departments at hospitals in Tullamore, Portlaoise and Ballinasloe. And although the casualties of the N4 accident were accepted at Mullingar, the chronic overcrowding caused by Health Service Executive's decision to take forty-one beds at the hospital out of the system just weeks beforehand, plus their failure to replace 35 nursing staff members who had retired, caused an emergency unlike any other in living memory of the hospital, which resulted in the decision by senior clinicians to take Mullingar 'off-call'.Deputy Willie Penrose TD slammed the HSE for denying people in need of urgent medical treatment, of that care:"This situation was all-too predictable. As a result, people in Longford and Westmeath who need to be admitted to hospital will have nowhere local to go. This is outrageous and the HSE and this Government are treating the citizens of Longford-Westmeath as second-class citizens," he insisted."I have lost all faith in the HSE, as I personally have been fooled by them once too often. The Government and the HSE think nothing of riding roughshod over the people of Longford and Westmeath. This has to stop now, and they are not going to get away with this."Longford/Westmeath Fine Gael Deputy James Bannon said last week that the announcement by the HSE that ambulances will by-pass the Midlands Regional Hospital, taking patients to the nearest alternative A&E, is indicative of a major crisis at the hospital."I am disgusted at this latest evidence of total government neglect of health services for the Midlands. While the HSE may choose to put a spin on it, the recent loss of forty-one beds and over 30 staff, taking the hospital off-call indicate closure by stealth," he exclaimed."There is a crisis in relation to available beds and to staffing levels which is entirely the result of recent cutbacks by the HSE. The Midlands Regional Hospital is the only acute hospital between Sligo and Dublin. Its closure with be a death sentence for the people of Longford/Westmeath," he added.Fine Gael Longford/ Westmeath Senator, Nicky McFadden said the news that overcrowding at Mullingar was a cause for real concern, not only for the patients attending at Mullingar but for the surrounding region which will struggle to access alternative services."Chronic overcrowding at the Hospital's A&E has been cited as the reason for the move with the decision being taken following a request from senior clinicians," said Dep. McFadden."Five hundred and ninety seven bed days were lost at the hospital in the first half of the year due to delayed discharges - three times the amount lost in the first half of 2008. Sixty one operations were cancelled in the hospital in the same period and together with the A&E overcrowding this shows Mullingar is falling victim to the gridlock visible throughout Mary Harney's health service - patients can not get in one end, nor out on the other."Staff voiced genuine concerns for patient safety this afternoon and should be commended for their actions. Fianna Fáil and the Greens are determined to make an already dreadful healthcare situation worse by continually taking beds out of the system. The people of the Midlands today feel the impact of such foolhardy decisions."Cllr Colm Arthur described the overcrowding of the accident and emergency department of Mullingar general hospital as an example of the "broken down organisation" that is the HSE:"Every time myself, or any of my Fine Gael colleagues highlighted the concerns of the staff or the public, Fianna Fail public representatives accused us of scare mongering. These FF TDs, Senators, and indeed Councillors must now hang their heads in shame," said Colm Arthur."I will be meeting with my colleagues in Fine Gael and staff representatives from the hospital, in the coming days to organise a public meeting and perhaps a demonstration."Sinn Féin spokesperson for Longford/Westmeath Councillor Paul Hogan slammed the HSE and the Fianna Fáil/Green Party Government over what he has described as 'massive mismanagement of Mullingar Regional Hospital.He also expressed huge concern for the safety of the population of Longford and Westmeath and surrounding counties following the closure of 41 beds in recent times."The closure of 41 beds in recent times and the non-replacement of 35 nursing staff members due to the moratorium on recruitment are having a devastating impact on the level of service that we need to provide for a population of approximately 100,000 people in this region. This is of no fault of the staff and doctors of Mullingar Regional Hospital who persevere under the most difficult of circumstances and conditions to endeavour to provide a top quality service to the people of Westmeath, Longford and surrounding areas.At the time of going to press, a spokesperson for the Health Service Executive would not comment on the possibility of the Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar being taken off-call again in the weeks leading up to Christmas.On Tuesday night of this week, a special meeting of Westmeath County Council was called to discuss the future of the hospital.