Forced to wait 40 hours on trolley for a LUH bed

His 40-hour trolley wait in Letterkenny University Hospital's emergency department has given one Inishowen man greater empathy with the people making up the daily Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation Trolley Watch statistics.

Speaking to Donegal Live, Peter Mullan (56) said, prior to his own experience, he had taken a “casual attitude” to the reports of “trolley numbers” in the hospital.

Peter, who is from Muff suffers from a chronic lung condition called Bronchiectasis, which means a light cold or flu could be very serious as it can quickly turn into pneumonia or pleurisy.

Normally his condition can be treated by a couple of doses of antibiotics and steroids, but this week his condition degenerated to a point where he found it very difficult to breath after a few short steps and was he sent to LUH emergency department by his GP.

After a 40-hour trolley wait, Peter was advised there would be no bed available for him any time soon, so he enquired about getting home.

“A lovely consultant came around to see me and said that, on the condition that I would observe strict bed rest for a week and take the prescribed medication, she would let me go,” said Peter.

He said: “If you are like me, and took a casual attitude to the reports of trolley numbers in LUH's emergency department and the rest of the hospital, I would like to hear my experience, out of concern for their elderly parents or sick neighbours and friends.

“Before I start, I want to say categorically that this is no reflection on the fantastic and dedicated staff we are so lucky to have working for us in LUH emergency department. They were all brilliant. Understanding and caring.”

Peter arrived and was booked into the emergency department at 17.30. He was seen and appraised inside the hour.

He added: “It took another nine and a half hours, until 3am on Saturday morning, before I was admitted. That’s nine and a half hours sitting on hard seats with no access to food.

“This may not seem too bad to a fit healthy person, but people who go to the emergency department are seriously sick, injured, in pain and distress or ill.

“I would, at this stage advise, if you normally take regular medication and do not have it with you, tell the assessing person so that your medications can be made available to you there. I did not and I paid the price.

“Although the emergency department waiting area outside did not seem particularly busy, inside, with emergency ambulance arrivals and the maintenance of seriously sick people stuck in the emergency department trolley area waiting on a bed, the staff were stretched to their limit. They were under pressure dealing with limited resources.”

Peter said it was a relief to finally get a trolley after waiting nine and a half hours.

He said: “Sitting on a metal seat had taken its toll on my back. As I said before, the staff in the emergency department were brilliant. They got me started right away on my medication and a bite of food.

“A trolley is basically a metal wheeled stretcher, about four foot wide, with about four and a half inches deep of plastic covered stiff foam on a hard base.

“The head rest can be adjusted to a chosen angle and has a light non fitted sheet on top. They are perfect for a short inspection or a few hours of treatment, but, it is not a bed.

“After just over 30 hours on this trolley, I was sore and very smelly. The plastic mattress sweats and, as the emergency department is designed as a short stay transient area, there is no access to showers or washing facilities, apart from hand washing.

“The department itself was very busy 24 hours of the day. Full lights on all the time and the accompanying noise of beeping machines; people in distress and pain; and staff dealing with all, made normal sleep impossible.”

Peter said the emergency department's patients' day started at 6am with the first allocation of medicine.

He said: “Now, I am not adverse to a bit of roughing it, but when you hear an old man sobbing, it touches you.

“Anything the staff had control over was done brilliantly, that poor man was constantly consoled by the caring staff and told he would get a bed soon. The food was very good and as with anything there’s always someone to lighten the place with a bit of humour.

“Our meals all came from a trolley wheeled from bed to bed. On Saturday morning, the trolley came around with its usual offering of toast, tea and cereals.

“When the lady next to me was asked what she wanted she said: 'Full Irish and hold the black pudding'. The man on the trolley had an equally witty answer and a ripple of laughter went across the department.”

Peter said emergency department are for the very sick and injured.

He said: “They are a place of last resort. Nobody should be waiting more than an hour to be assessed for staying or treating.

“The allocation of a bed, in a unit specialising in your condition, should also only take a maximum of a couple of hours. That is the least our old, vulnerable and very sick deserve.

“The only reason this does not happen is because there are simply not enough resources allocated. Simple.

“So, next time you hear about numbers waiting on a bed, spare a thought for those very sick, old and vulnerable people who have been there for many hours waiting.

“Hopefully this piece will give readers an insight to what people are suffering and maybe even move them to do small to rectify it.”

Letterkenny University Hospital is invariably one of the hospitals with the highest daily number of patients waiting on trolleys.
According to Irish Nurses and Midwives Trolley Watch, Letterkenny University Hospital had the second highest number of patients in the state waiting on trolleys, yesterday (Tuesday, February 22).

There were 20 patients in the Emergency Department and 23 elsewhere waiting on beds. Limerick University Hospital was the highest with 68 patients waiting on beds.