THESE were the chaotic scenes at one of the country’s biggest hospitals today with over 1,000 lie in hospitals with flu.
Up to 17 ambulances lined up outside Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda, Co Louth waiting for their 999 patients to be treated inside.
It meant there were no ambulances available in the north-east region for several hours as the flu epidemic caused chaos.
The ambulance crews are not allowed to leave their patient that they collected on a 999 call until he or she is formally treated and admitted to hospital.
This means they can be waiting at the Accident and Emergency Wards for several hours until the patient is seen to and admitted to the hospital.
One senior paramedic said: “This is the worst I have ever seen it in Irish hospitals. The place is overrun with people suffering from coughs, colds, the flu, Covid and respiratory issues.
“The staff are overwhelmed. People are ringing for ambulances when they should be going to the doctor on call or to the local pharmacist for help.
“You should only call 999 if your life is at risk – not if you have a bad cold or flu.
“Many of the patients we are getting are elderly people from nursing homes because the nursing homes don’t have proper medics to care for them.
“There were 17 ambulances outside the Lourdes Hospital at one stage and none available in the whole north east.
“They had to bring ambulances in from other parts of the country to deal with demand – the whole thing is madness.
“My advice to people is just try and not get sick in this country at the moment.”
The HSE said there are almost 1,100 people in hospital nationwide with the flu, with over 60 of these in intensive care beds.
It is understood the many non elective operations will be cancelled in the coming days and weeks to make more hospital beds available.
The HSE said: “The Emergency Department in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital remains very busy with a high number of presentations and admissions.
“It is expected that the pressure will continue over the coming days and we would urge the public to use alternative healthcare services for treatment such as GP, GP Out of Hours, Dundalk Injury Unit and pharmacies when appropriate.
“But if patients are very sick and in an emergency situation they should of course come to the Emergency Department. “
The HSE has also imposed severe visiting restrictions in hospitals all over the country, warning people who have flu like symptoms to stay at home and not go out in public.
Today, 571 admitted patients were waiting for beds, according to the INMO Trolley Watch.
Some 375 patients were waiting in the emergency department, while 196 were in wards elsewhere in the hospital.
