People told to ‘consider all options’ before going to A&E as trolley waits soar

People have been urged to consider alternatives before going to A&E as the highest number of people waiting on trolleys was recorded on Tuesday.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (Inmo)said 931 patients were counted as waiting on trolleys in Irish hospitals, the highest number without a hospital bed since the trade union began the count in 2006.

Of those, 767 were on trolleys in emergency departments while 164 were on trolleys elsewhere in hospitals.

Emergency attendances have been fuelled by a rapid increase in flu, Covid-19 and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) cases, with nearly 1,500 people currently in hospital with those illnesses.

Limerick University Hospital declared a major internal incident on Monday after an “unprecedented” number of people presented seeking emergency care.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Health Service Executive (HSE) asked those who need medical care or assessment “to consider all options” before going to a A&E during what “is going to be the busiest ever period experienced by the health service”.

It said: “While this surge of winter virus infections was predicted and planned for, the trends being seen are following the more pessimistic of predicted models and also appear to be increasing earlier than had been hoped.

“While some patients will regrettably experience long wait times in our emergency departments, urgent patients will always be prioritised for treatment and care.”

Although RSV cases fell for several weeks, they are now also surging.

Figures show there are almost 700 people in hospital with Covid-19, with 78 new cases confirmed in the past 24 hours.

Damien McCallion, the HSE’s chief operations officer, said the “unprecedented combination” of very high levels of respiratory illnesses has led to stress on hospitals.

The HSE expects the rise to continue for “a number of weeks”, which will “seriously impact” hospitals.

Mr McCallion asked people with flu-like symptoms to check undertheweather.ie in the first instance, secondly for people to consult their pharmacist or GP, and thirdly for them to attend a minor injury unit before considering attending an emergency department.

“Those who believe they may be seriously ill and require emergency care should of course come to hospital, but we would urge others to consider seeking support from pharmacists, GPs, GP out-of-hours services and minor injury units,” he said.

“These services have emergency responses in place for patients presenting with respiratory and other urgent health issues.”

Sinn Fein health spokesman David Cullinane said he has written to Oireachtas Health Committee chairman Sean Crowe, asking that the committee be recalled to discuss the issue.

“Clearly the Winter Plan is insufficient,” he said.

Inmo general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said the numbers require “immediate and serious intervention” from the Government.

“We do not need those at the top to describe how we got here; we need to know what exactly the plan is from today until the end of February.

“Just telling people to avoid hospitals is not a plan or indeed safe. The public need to know exactly what type of care they can expect over the next six weeks.”

She went on: “Our members are extremely disillusioned by the current set of circumstances they are working in. We are not seeing unsustainable overcrowding confined to a handful of hospitals – each hospital is facing significant overcrowding challenges, a trend which has continued to escalate since late summer.

“Our members are treating patients in inhumane and often unsafe conditions.

“We need Government to now make difficult decisions, including the return of mandated mask-wearing in congregated settings. We know that one of the main pressure points in our health service is the rise of respiratory infections.

“Asking people to return to mask-wearing in busy congregated settings is a simple measure.”

Chief Medical Officer Breda Smyth and others have urged people to wear masks on public transport and to stay at home if they have flu-like symptoms over the coming weeks in an effort to reduce transmission.

People are also encouraged to get a flu or Covid-19 booster vaccine if they are due one.

On Thursday, a second booster vaccine was made available to people aged 18 to 49, which can be booked through the HSE website.