Local residents “would rather die” than go to Beaumont, says patient

A Clonshaugh woman has shared her experiences with Beaumont Hospital and said that local residents are “so terrified” about visiting A&E at the hospital, they would “rather die.”

Patricia Anderson of Clonough said she was inspired to speak out about the conditions at Beaumont Hospital after her recent experience at the hospital and reading a recent Northside People article where a Coolock man, George Finglas, shared his similarly miserable experiences at the hospital.

Anderson said that her husband, in his late 70s, went to the hospital after a fall at 2pm.

Anderson’s husband had to endure a 13-hour wait before being seen as the A&E department was so crowded and the staff at the hospital were so overstretched and under-resourced.

After being seen to at 3am, Anderson only saw a bed at 6am.

After a further five hours of tests, Anderson was sent home at 11am, marking a 21-hour visit to A&E for a simple fall.

Anderson says that because of her husband’s advanced age, having to spend 21 hours in A&E “terrified” him and the incident “traumatised” the family.

“Something needs to be done for the older generation,” she told Northside People.

Anderson said she was in contact with local TDs about the poor conditions at the hospital and was assured that a new A&E unit was being built at the hospital, which Nicola expressed scepticism over.

She said that when she contacted local TDs, she was “only given lip service” by them.

“It’s all well and good for politicians to say that these things are being built, but when, exactly?”

She said that the dysfunction at Beaumont Hospital is “not a new thing,” but conditions have gradually deteriorated at the hospital to the point that local residents said that they are “terrified” to even visit A&E.

“It is cruel what people at the hospital go through,” she said, praising the staff who are working under “horrible” conditions, but said that “something needs to be done” so that the quality of care is improved at the hospital.

In 2018, then-TD Tommy Broughan told Northside People that the building of the new A&E unit at Beaumont was “too slow” and said the A&E department “is in urgent need of upgrade and refurbishment.”

Three Ministers for Health later, there is no sign of a new A&E department on the horizon.