A DONEGAL MAN has spoken of the horror he witnessed during a 14-and-a-half hour stay in Letterkenny University Hospital’s A&E department this week.
Lifford native Paul McClay accompanied his 82-year-old aunt to A&E on Tuesday afternoon at 4 o’clock following a referral from her GP.
According to figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwvies Organisation (INMO), the number of patients on trolleys at LUH has fallen in the last week.
However, the grim reality of what awaits those needing emergency care is a facility that appears at tipping point at times.
For McClay, it wasn’t so much the length of the wait that was troubling, but rather what he witnessed.
“I was that peed off at one stage with the wait that I went around and started counting,” he told Donegal Daily.
“I walked around the whole of A&E. I counted 31 beds in total and countied 42 people on trollies.
“It would almost bring you to tears. There were people asleep, people cuddled up on chairs, benches, whereever they could find, really. They were lying everywhere. You name it, there were people on it.
“Gerry Lane came out at one stage and actually apologised to all of us who were sitting in the reception area.
“He said there’d been an influx of ambulances and there was a massivebacklog. He told us there were only 30 beds and there were 50 people in there at that stage.
“One of the nurses said that it wasn’t even considered a ‘busy’ night! They didn’t implement the emergency protocol, even though they probably could have.”
McClay and his elderly aunt were initially seen to promptly when her blood pressure and some routine checks were carried out at around 5 o’clock, while she underwent at x-ray at 7.30.
“After that, it was twenty minutes to four in the morning before we got to see anyone,” McClay said.
“She was feeling unsteady on her feet and was put in a wheelchair early on, but after she was x-rayed, we were the last to be seen. We were told at 3.30 that it would be a medical assessment team, not the A&E medical staff, who would look after us.
“My aunt got a bed just after 5.30 in the morning – it was a bed in the A&E plaster room.
“No sooner had she got the bed and had the blanket put over her, but the doctor came in with a diagnosis and was sent home again. This was at 6.30 – after 14-and-a-half hours we got a full diagnosis; and part of the problem was that she’d been prescribed tablets that hadn’t agreed with her.”
In spite of the experience, Mr McClay says his admiration for hospital staff has heightened.
He said: “I feel so sorry for the staff. They were so helpful to us. They were so kind and were doing all they could for us.”
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