Coolock man describes “inhumane” conditions at Beaumont Hospital

A Coolock man has described his recent experience at Beaumont Hospital as “Dickensian.”

Coolock resident George Finglas had to attend Beaumont Hospital with his wife in July, and said it was a “hellhole.”

Finglas said he “shuddered” at the prospect of having to take his wife to their local Accident and Emergency department at Beaumont Hospital after she suffered a head injury.

After being reminded by his daughter that he had a private healthcare plan, he availed of a trauma clinic in Swords, paid €50, and was seen by a triage nurse and doctor.

Per Finglas, availing of the private route meant his wife was seen to and treated within two hours and was given a CD and scan of the injury to bring to a public hospital.

They were informed, at the private clinic, that they did not have the capability to carry out a CT scan, which was required after a head-related injury, and that required a trip to Beaumont.

That, per Finglas, is when the problems truly began.

After arriving at Beaumont, they were informed that the X-ray that was taken in the private healthcare centre would not be used.

Finglas notes that the private healthcare sector does not communicate with the public healthcare sector, and that just adds to confusion for patients.

He said that from a patient’s perspective, it appears that private healthcare facilities and public healthcare facilities do not communicate with each other, and that results in poorer patient care.

Finglas said there was no dignity involved in his wife’s treatment at Beaumont, saying that a doctor had to carry out an examination of his wife in earshot and in full public view of people in the waiting area.

“The poor doctor was looking for an area to carry out his examination of my wife, and he peeked into every single cubicle (all full) with very ill people,” he recalled.

“We walked around the treatment area twice, past people on trollies overlapping each other, then literally dozens of people sitting on chairs using up every single inch of space in the emergency room. We eventually settled for the doctor having to ask an elderly man, well into his 80s, sitting on a chair facing his wife and holding her hand, to vacate the seat so my injured wife could be examined.”

After the very public examination was carried out, a 3-hour wait commenced; their name was eventually called, and a doctor brought Finglas’ wife in for an initial examination.

They offered up the CD of the X-ray, which was taken in the private healthcare facility, but the CD was refused.

“All the time while this degrading madness was happening, I was getting calls and texts from our four daughters offering to relieve me and sit with their mother; to be honest, I lied to them, saying all was good and we should be on our way soon.”

Finglas stated, “there is no way on earth I would want any of them to have to go near that hellhole; I could go on and on repeating stories of other victims, but anyone who has already been there knows the form.”

Finglas challenged Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, to visit the hospital in disguise and see how bad the conditions at the hospital truly are.

He remarked that the typical government protocol is to give advance notice that a Minister is visiting, so extra cleaning staff are deployed and everything would be clean for a ministerial visit; Finglas said what he saw on that July day in Beaumont was a more accurate reflection of the current state of the Irish healthcare system.

“People are dying in trollies without dignity, and this renders the current operation as morally wrong; it needs to be updated.”

In contrast to his experience at a private healthcare provider, which took two hours from start to finish, Finglas said he had to endure an 8-hour experience in Beaumont from the time of check-in, examination, and discharge, in sub-ideal conditions.

Finglas said his mental health was affected as a result of the visit; he said he plays back the “inhumane conditions” in his mind, and his experience spurred him to contact the Northside People and go on the record about his ordeal.

“There are so many victims in all this; the patients, the relatives, the staff, the emergency responders.”

He stressed that the staff were not to blame in this instance; he paid tribute to the “hard-working” staff who have to operate in dire conditions, but still remain professional.

“The doctors, nurses and porters who have to live this nightmare on every shift. I thank them all for their genuine care and attention to detail,” he said.

“Apologies if telling my story truthfully upsets you, but having gone through this experience, I will be disturbed for a long time to come,” he told Northside People.

Local Sinn Féin councillor Micheál Mac Donncha said, “the awful thing is that such experiences have become routine.”

“Overcrowding and unacceptable conditions in A&E, long waiting times for what should be routine tests and procedures, no longer make the news.”

The Donaghmede councillor said, “the healthcare system needs fundamental reform and resourcing, but successive governments have failed to deliver. We need a renewed focus on transforming the system. The people who provide care within the system are excellent. We need to equip them to do their jobs.” 

Dublin Bay North TD Barry Heneghan asserted in April that investment in Beaumont Hospital was part of his deal to back the government, a claim which Taoiseach Micheál Martin denied. 

Heneghan has written to HSE about the conditions at Beaumont Hospital; the reply informed Heneghan that there are plans to add a 64-bed critical care unit at Beaumont, but the plans were only in the design stage and subject to statutory appeals and Ireland’s planning process.

Minister MacNeill told the Dáil in March, “as Beaumont is a live, busy hospital campus, there is added complexity in terms of planning, sequencing and enabling any capital investment on that site.”

“Our acute hospitals require a significant amount of phased enabling works to prepare for larger projects. These key enabling pieces are ongoing at Beaumont.”

With Fine Gael having held the Minister for Health brief for 9 of the 14 years it has been in government (including two Northsiders, James Reilly and Leo Varadkar), claims of investment ring hollow in the case of Mr. Finglas and his experience. 

“It was the most humiliating experience of our lives,” the former Dublin City Council worker said.