15 year-old on trolley for 54 hours in Regional Hospital
nocaptionABCDE
A 15 year-old girl from Limerick city remained on a trolley for over 50 hours in the Mid-Western Regional hospital this week, as she waited to be treated for a kidney and bladder infection.
The mother of the teenage girl, who did not wish to be named, said she was admitted to the hospital at 8.30am on Monday after she collapsed at home and was transported by ambulance to the hospital.
This Wednesday afternoon, after being on a trolley for 54 hours, her daughter was finally moved to a bed.
Figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation show that 27 people were on trolleys in the Regional this Wednesday alone, among some 385 people waiting on trolleys for a bed in hospitals across the country. On Tuesday 32 patients were on trolleys in the Regional, and another 15 were waiting on Monday.
A spokesperson for the Mid-Western Regional hospital said the hospital is under “acute pressure”, due to a number of factors including the vomiting bug, respiratory ailments and a post Christmas surge, “which seems to be more pressing this year than previous years.” The hospital wished to apologise for any delays, and appealed to people to co-operate with staff, and obey the visiting restrictions that are now in place.
The mum said she was told at 2am this Wednesday that her daughter was being moved to a bed, but said she was simply moved to another trolley in a corridor of one ward with a screen around her.
“She’s only 15 years old and looks like someone homeless the way she’s been left on the trolley. I just feel like crying looking at her,” she said, speaking before a bed was located.
“The nurses and doctors have been fantastic, but are rushed off their feet and can’t do anything more for us.
“They didn’t want her where she was, watching all of this, with car crash victims coming in to A&E. It’s just complete chaos.
“People beside her were nearly falling on top of her. You couldn’t walk around the trolleys there was so many around her. She has a kidney and bladder infection and also picked up the vomiting bug since she’s been in the hospital.”
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Wednesday 22 May 2013
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