Dr Jim Gray: “I cannot guarantee their care or dignity, which is a very serious thing to say as a clinician”

By Mary Dennehy

AN EMERGENCY department consultant at Tallaght Hospital has claimed that he cannot guarantee the “safety, care or dignity” of those attending the local A&E.

The claims came as the Hospital issued a warning to the public about high numbers of patients in its Emergency Department, with 57 people waiting on trolleys today, including a woman who was waiting more than 60 hours for a bed.

Dr James Gray spoke with The Echo after finishing a shift which involved one patient having a seizure in the waiting room and another, at serious risk of cardiac arrest, being left waiting for an assessment by a clinician for more than eight hours.

There was also a serious overcrowding issue within the department, which was heightened by 25 patients lying on trolleys, six people requiring isolation and full-to-capacity resuscitation bays.

Dr Gray told The Echo: “Like most nights, the hospital experienced dangerous conditions on Tuesday night.

“We had a patient who ended up having a seizure and a man at serious risk of cardiac arrest languishing in the waiting room, which caused stress for both the patients and those also waiting to be seen.

“Tallaght Hospital has deteriorated in the last weeks, with the isolation issue ongoing.

“We have one isolation room in the emergency department but on Tuesday night, we had six patients needing isolation.

“This infection control hazard and the overcrowding, which is creating a fire hazard, are breaches of the Health and Safety Act and all HIQA recommendations, yet nobody is being held accountable.”

He added: “For anybody who comes to Tallaght Hospital’s emergency department room and it’s full of patients, I cannot guarantee their safety.

“I cannot guarantee their care or dignity, which is a very serious thing to say as a clinician.”

This week, Dr Gray sent a letter to the HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster region which, copying the Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD, and a number of other politicians on, outlined his concerns and the need for accountability and changes in relation to the delivery of additional beds, staffing, out-of-hours diagnostics, long-term care beds and GP support.

“The process is broken, people are waiting too long to be accessed in A&E,” Dr Gray said.

“This is not a reflection of the staff, who are working hard under very difficult conditions, it’s a reflection of the dysfunction.”
This week, reports emerged that more than 2,000 patients had been exposed to superbug CRE over the past 18 months in Tallaght Hospital.

NEWS: Woman waiting 60 hours for bed as #Tallaght Hospital urges public to stay away #TrolleyCrisis https://t.co/2nxH55wBJ5

— The Echo Newspaper (@TheEchoOnline) February 2, 2017

When contacted by The Echo, Tallaght Hospital said: “In the past 18 months, Tallaght Hospital has treated 528,077 adult patients – 142 of whom have been identified as ‘carriers’ of CRE.

“Carriers experience no symptoms or harm. It is possible to contract CRE through direct or indirect contact with a carrier either within healthcare institutions or through exposure in the community.”

The hospital added: “Like many other facilities across the country, Tallaght Hospital has in place surveillance systems to monitor the levels of a number of bacterial infections.

“Prior to 2016, levels of CRE colonisation at Tallaght Hospital were at such a low level that the situation did not require additional action.

“However in 2016, the number of cases rose to a point where it was necessary to intensify the hospital’s response.”

Tallaght Hospital told The Echo that the issue was formally escalated to the HSE, with increased resources, expanded screening and rapid detection systems introduced, alongside staff education campaigns, restricted visiting hours and communication with the public.

Tallaght Hospital has plans to develop a new 72-bed unit, which will assist staff in managing such infections in the future as all of the 72 beds will be individual, isolation units.

Visit www.tallaghthospital.ie for advice and restriction hours.