'Publish bed, not trolley figures'

The country's major acute hospitals should publish a 'bed capacity' watch, rather than daily A&E trolley waiting figures, as these would give a more accurate picture of how hospitals are coping, according to a well-known consultant.

Consultant neurologist Dr Orla Hardiman said concern has been growing recently about the ability of major acute hospitals around the country to find beds for patients with serious illnesses from outlying areas who need to be transfered to major city hospitals for urgent specialist care.

She told irishhealth.com that she had been informed by administration at Beaumont Hospital, where she works, that there were a large number of patients with conditions such as brain tumours, strokes, sub-arachnoid haemorrhages and other complex neurology and neurosurgical admissions awaiting transfer to Beaumont at the end of last week.

She said there were at least five priority patients waiting at home for emergency admission to her own neurology service at Beaumont on Friday and it looked unlikely that any of them would be admitted this week.

Dr Hardiman said the main problem at Beaumont and other major acute hospitals was bed capacity.

"Casualty is driving the service. In neurology we cannot accept transfers is A&E is busy. Neurosurgery would have more protection as regards beds than neurology, but they are also log-jammed."

Dr Hardiman, who is also founder member of the Doctors Alliance, which is campaigning for a better public health service, says the most frightening aspect of the situation is that the capacity crisis has become worse recently.

She says hospitals have become so inured to these problems that it is now almost accepted as the norm that they continue to exist.

Dr Hardiman claims many major hospitals are working to 100% capacity or more.

She said one of her patients who has been seeking admission for a number of days has a clot on a vein in her brain.

"She needs to be monitored in Beaumont but a bed cannot be found for her."

Dr Hardiman says that rather than conducting trolley counts, which she feels do not give a true picture of hospital capacity problems, it should publish daily statistics on bed capacity and availability in hospitals, and on the number of patients awaiting transfer to major hospitals from other areas.

[Posted: Tue 11/09/2007]