FURIOUS patients and their relatives who were in the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick when it was visited by Health Minister Simon Harris last Friday have claimed that patients and trolleys were hidden from him.
In a tirade on social media, a number of people who were in the emergency department claimed that trolleys were moved and patients transferred to other hospitals in preparation for the arrival of the Minister and the local media.
One patient, Jasmine Moynihan, an 18 year old applied languages student at the University of Limerick who lives in Dooradoyle spent a total of 52 hours in the emergency department and was there when the MInister visited.
“I was absolutely shocked and appalled by what I witnessed that day.
“A big fuss was made for the Minister. He strutted in the doors without a care in the world with his Garda escort. He then had the audacity to shake our hands while we lay, beds bumper to bumper, wheelchairs unable to pass, sweating and in pain.
“The most shocking part was trolleys being moved out of sight in a hurry, crammed into the corridors of tiny wards without essentials and sent to Nenagh general and Croom orthopaedic hospitals until the Minister and the media left.
“The doctor specifically told the Minister there was only 16 people on beds when in reality there was about 40 shoved into different places.
Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) state there were 36 people on trollies in the emergency department and in wards last Friday.
INMO Limerick representative Mary Fogarty told the Limerick Post that staff did not think that the situation had been dressed up for the MInister.
“The nurse in charge said that the emergency department was chaotic when Minister Harris was there,” she said.
Another patient, who was in the emergency department on Friday said: “There were loads moved to Croom and St John’s”.
Others shared similar complaints on the Facebook Page of Power Solicitors in Limerick.
A hospital spokesman said that similar to any busy day in the hospital, a number of escalation measures were implemented last Friday to relieve overcrowding. Among those measures were the transfer of suitable patients to Ennis, Nenagh, St John’s and Croom Hospitals .
“32 patients were waiting on trolleys for admission that morning. The emergency department at UHL had a very busy week and any suggestion that patients were being moved or transferred to make a positive impression ahead of a ministerial visit is simply not borne out by the data or the facts.
“What Minister Harris saw was a true reflection of the current state of the emergency department. UL Hospitals Group has long stated that the Department is too small and unfit for purpose.
“It is encouraging that so many patients in the emergency department told Minister Harris that the quality of care they received there was excellent”, the spokesman added.
