Drogheda: Lourdes back ‘on call’

THE Emergency Department of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda is back “on call” after being on “protective call” for 24 hours.
However, in a statement issued this afternoon (Wednesday, February 25) the HSE said the public were requested to contact their GP, or GP out-of-hours service before presenting to the Hospital.

There were 45 people lying on trolleys there yesterday (Tuesday, February 24), according to the Irish Nurses Organisation’s (INO) Trolley Watch service. That was the highest of any hospital in the country.
As a result, the Hospital was put on “protective call” affecting obstetrics, paediatrics and trauma services. GPs and the Ambulance Service were requested to refer adult patients with medical complaints to Louth County Hospital, Dundalk, or Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan. Adult patients with surgical complaints were to be referred to Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, or Cavan General Hospital.
Dr Fergal Hickey, president of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine (IAEM) and consultant in emergency medicine at Sligo General Hospital said the situation showed what happened when regional services go wrong. “This is what happens when you transfer services to emergency departments that cannot cope. There is a fear that it will happen in the Mid-West too,” he said.
In October 2008 the Hospital’s Emergency Department was forced to close for 12 hours for the first time in its history. At the time there were 28 people waiting on trolleys.
In early January it was reported that 40 people were on trolleys in Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda – the highest number ever at the hospital, according to the INO at the time.