Children’s charity welcomes hospital ruling

A NATIONAL
children’s charity has called on hospital managers to take note of a new
directive that patients awaiting transfer to wards should not be placed on
trolleys in corridors around adult emergency departments.

Children in
Hospital Ireland (CHI) welcomed the Health Information and Quality Authority
(HIQA) ruling that followed an inspection at Tallaght Hospital.

During an
unannounced inspection at the Southside hospital on Wednesday, August 24 HIQA
found that patients were being treated on trolleys along the corridor.

The inspection
was part of a statutory inquiry, initiated by HIQA, following the inquest into
the death of a Kilnamanagh man, who died at the hospital on March 2 of this
year.

He had been
moved away from the emergency department to a so-called

“virtual ward

?, which
was effectively a corridor area with no oxygen, monitors or equipment.

The HIQA’s
directive that no more patients should be placed on trolleys in corridors, that
was issued as a result of the inspection was welcomed by the CHI, which offers
services for parents and carers of sick children and advice for health
authorities.

“In addition to
addressing clinical needs, the directive shows respect for the dignity of the
adults and children who attend emergency departments in Tallaght Hospital,

?
CEO, Mary O’Connor, said.

“We have been
greatly concerned about the impact the practice has had on children and parents
attending the adjacent children’s emergency department.

“In recent years
parents have told us how upsetting and frightening it is for sick children on
their way to the paediatric A&E department to pass along these corridors
where patients, often elderly, lie on trolleys.

“During the
planning for this hospital, we worked hard to ensure the separation of the two
departments so that children would not be subjected to inappropriate sights and
sounds.

‘The arrangement
whereby adults have been placed on the public corridors, particularly the
access to the children’s department negates good practice in this area.

?

She added:

“Tallaght is not the only hospital where children attending emergency
departments are in close proximity to sick adults. While good practice calls
for separation of child and adult patients it seldom happens.

?

The Irish Nurses
and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has called on the HSE to find long term care
for patients who remained in beds at the hospital despite being deemed
clinically fit for discharge.

“The INMO
welcomes the HIQA finding and it must now be used, by all hospital managements
and the HSE nationally, as a turning point in dealing with the blight of
A&E overcrowding,

? a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson
for Tallaght Hospital told Southside People:

“The emergency department in the
hospital is no longer being used to accommodate admitted patients on trolleys
awaiting transfer to in-patient beds.

?

A spokesperson
for the HSE added that they were in close contact with Tallaght Hospital in
relation to the issue.

“The HSE has
been assured by Tallaght Hospital that they have a plan in place to deal with
the concerns raised by HIQA,

? a spokesperson said.