URGENT MAYO PLEA: Please fix our hospital

Appeal for action on Mayo emergency unit’s shortcomings

A PLEA has been issued to the management of Mayo University Hospital to address consistent overcrowding and other problematic issues at the facility's emergency department (ED).

The appeal, which is also directed at the Minister for Health, the Slainte Hospitals Group and the HSE, was made in an editorial in this week's issue of The Connaught Telegraph.

Formal approval has been given by HSE Estates for an €18.4 million extension to the unit – but it is unlikely to be built until 2026.

The existing emergency department was designed to cater for around 25,000 patients per annum – but it is exceeding that number by more than 10,000 every year.

The point being made in The Connaught Telegraph editorial is that action needs to be taken now to address the lack of floorspace and the clear modus operandi problem at the unit - and not let those issues linger until the extension is completed and up and running in four or five years' time.

The full text of the editorial is as follows:

There is something intrinsically wrong with the operation of the emergency department at Mayo University Hospital.

While this has been the case for a long time - as evidenced by a catalogue of negative stories about the facility over recent years - it is astonishing that very little has been done to improve the situation despite a primary care centre being located within close proximity.

There appears to be a number of layers to the problem.

Firstly, a relatively small section of a fairly large hospital building is set aside for the unit, making it unfit for purpose in many respects.

In effect, a tiny corner of the Castlebar centre is expected to deal on a daily basis with a big surge of patients and ambulances descending on it.

This leads to people who are not in the best of health having to wait for long periods of time within a confined space before being seen by medical people in an adjacent room, after which they return to that same confined space to await the course of the next step of their treatment.

It would hardly be a surprise if the health of many of these patients, particularly the most elderly, deteriorates during the course of this ordeal, having earlier being asked to sit in a tent outside while waiting to access the unit itself.

Now it is important to make abundantly clear that during all of this time of waiting and waiting, the staff of the hospital, both medical and administrative, are the epitome of patience and professionalism.

But here’s the thing.

They, too, are victims of this situation, which can only be described as an utter mess, as they must carry out their very important duties in cramped and extremely challenging working conditions.

Their ability to overcome these challenges by doing such a fine job is, to say the least, remarkable.

Surely, however, it is not and cannot be sustainable.

The key question here is whether or not something can be done urgently to address the lack of floorspace and the clear modus operandi problem and not let them linger until the proposed new extension is completed and up and running in four or five years time.

This writer is issuing a plea to the hospital management, the HSE, the Slainte Hospitals Group and the Minister for Health to please seriously examine this matter in the best interest of the hospital staff and members of the public.

If proverbial mountains could be moved to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic at the hospital, then surely the same can happen to give emergency medicine the priority status and space it deserves.

It’s a reasonable and fair request - and one that is in all of their interests.