Concerns over hospital winter upsurge
There is concern that Galway’s public hospitals will not be able to cope with the inevitable increase in patients seeking treatment during the winter months.
The latest HSE West Regional Health Forum meeting heard fears that no additional monies are available to deal with extra patient demand this winter.
Galway County Councillor Daithí Ó Cualáin (FF) said of the winter plan, “what we are doing here is nothing new”.
He said that he was not confident that the plan in place could deal with a surge in demand – particularly given that staff are already under pressure, attendances at the Emergency Department are high and there are excessive numbers waiting on trollies and ongoing ambulance delays.
Tony Canavan, Chief Executive of Saolta University Health Care Group, said Galway University Hospitals has submitted its plan for managing the winter period and it would involve working closely with Community Healthcare West.
“We will work together to maximise on community supports such as access to short stay beds, home support hours, equipment as well as with the ambulance service for on-going management and improvements in turnaround times.
“Across our hospitals we will implement measures including a focus on early morning rounds and discharge; increasing access to diagnostics – particularly at weekends and prioritising the assessment and management of frail elderly patients,” said Mr Canavan.
He conceded that what was being done was probably ‘not enough’ but insisted that they had a plan, which doesn’t happen by accident and it was focused on ‘doing the basics right’.
Mr Canavan added that as part of the winter plan, the flu vaccinations will be offered to all staff, and it is hoped that the uptake will exceed 60% this year.