Letterkenny University Hospital staff ‘burnt out’ due to ‘perfect storm’

Staff at Letterkenny University Hospital are burnt out due to a “perfect storm” of overcrowding and under-resourcing that has hit the hospital over the Christmas period, the chairperson of the HSE’s Regional Health Forum West has said.

The HSE has said the hospital has been under “significant pressure” due to a high number of people attending the emergency department amid outbreaks of flu and Covid-19 in recent days.

HSE advice has been for people with non-emergency health problems to attend their GP or the GP out-of-hours service, but the out-of-hours service has been under strain due to a high volume of calls over the Christmas period. Nowdoc has asked those trying to access the service to be patient due to long waiting times.

The latest figures show 41 patients were being treated at the hospital for Covid-19, although none of those required admittance to intensive care. The figure was the fourth-highest in the country.

Cllr Gerry McMonagle said up to six ambulances have been queuing at the hospital at times over the Christmas period due to the emergency department “being overrun with people” and Nowdoc “being swamped with calls”.

Letterkenny hospital remains under 'significant pressure'

Staff at the hospital is dealing with outbreaks of Covid-19 and flu across eight wards or departments

The Letterkenny councillor said people contacting Nowdoc were waiting for up to three hours for a callback and “this has obviously prompted more people to go to the emergency department”.

“It’s just a perfect storm. It is nothing new and we have been flagging this up for some time. There is a serious lack of resources - both personnel and beds.

“The hospital medical staff are completely wiped out - the hours that they are working and the conditions they are working with, the pressures they are under. It is taking its toll on them as well.

“The staff are burnt out. They are working long, long hours and we need GPs to step up.”

He has called for Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to carry out an urgent review of the HSE’s winter plan as “it is clearly not sufficient and is not working”.

“They have prepared for what would be a normal winter - but this is just a perfect storm. There are just an awful lot of sick people. The beds there are needed, and there is nowhere out in the community to put people.”

The Sinn Féin councillor said he did not know “if the minister has grasped” the seriousness of the problems.

The winter plan, he said, “is not fit for purpose”.

“It needs to be reviewed and it needs to be looked at. This is a time of crisis. There are things that can be done if there’s a will there to do them and I am asking the minister and the HSE to review that plan and make changes that will make a difference.”