“Jessica Crowley from west Cork brought her two-year-old daughter Aoibhín to Cork University Hospital last Sunday. The mother-of-two said: “She was left on a chair in the small waiting area for kids. Not once was she offered a pillow or a blanket, not to mention a trolley in a cubicle.”
Meanwhile…
Via INMO
Previously: Corridors Of Power
Sponsored Link
A 40% reduction in those on trolleys in just one day (from 584 to 371). Methinks heads have been knocked together, and the elderly waiting for private care places have been whooshed out the wards.
As for the child in a chair for 10 hours, there’s no word there on the condition of the child and an adult who has just been in a serious car crash should take precedence over a child with a slight fever or tummy upset.
Was going to ask.
Why was she there?
A very large number of people who attend A&E are wasting valuable resources.
I don’t envy the poor little girl having to sit there for ten hours regardless, but if there’s very little wrong with you, you will be bottom of the triage heap.
10 hours is still a ridiculously long waiting time, regardless of what was wrong with her. And it was Sunday, so hard to get to a GP or East Doc or whatever they have in Cork.
Perhaps they should have 3 units, walk-up doctor care, minor injuries and urgent care for more serious issues then everyone wouldn’t end up in one long massive queue. Although there probably would still need to be triage at A&E to redirect people who go straight there…
NHS has a minor injuries unit with most A&Es. I went to one for an ankle injury in Edinburgh, I was triaged, xrayed, treated and discharged within and hour and a half. All done by nursing staff too. The Mercy in Cork is doing a similar program too which is just as fantastic. Put one of those within an hours drive of everyone in Ireland and I’d say we’d save a fortune as well as cutting back on waiting times.
Sadly it probably won’t solve the trolley issue.