Up to 16 ambulances were waiting with patients outside one of the country's busiest hospitals on Wednesday night, just days after a temporary ambulance bypass was implemented to ease the pressure on the emergency department services.
Some of the ambulances lined up outside Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda at about 7pm had been there up to six hours waiting for available beds to hand over patients.
The queue of ambulances comes just three days after hospital management were forced to implement a temporary three-hour ambulance bypass while the hospital dealt with a high number of presentations and admissions. Ambulances were diverted to other hospitals in Dublin, Meath and Cavan during this time.
The latest situation was described as 'incredible' by Aontu leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín who has been campaigning against a long-time planned closure by the HSE of the emergency department at Our Lady's Hospital in nearby Navan.
Some ambulances with critical and unstable patients have already been told to bypass Navan's Emergency Department since 2022 as part of HSE reconfiguration plans.
"That one of the busiest hospitals in the country has been turned into an ambulance car park is outrageous," he said.
"16 ambulances queuing for hours to deliver patients is a threat to the health and wellbeing of patients. Delayed treatment leads to reduced outcomes for patients”.
“Tying up 16 ambulances in Drogheda Hospital also has the effect of taking these ambulances out of commission. It means that these ambulances are simply not available to deal with emergency life and death calls in the region. It means delayed ambulance arrival and again this is a threat to life and health”.
“According to an Aontú Parliamentary Question, ambulance delays are leading to deaths. In 2019 757 people were dead by the time the ambulance arrived, and this figure stood at 927 in 2021. These are devastating figures”.
“The reason Drogheda is under so much pressure is the emergency departments in Dundalk and in Monaghan have been closed by previous governments.
"Added to this is the official ambulance bypass of Navan hospital. None of this has happened by accident. It is directly a result of decisions by Ministers for Health and senior HSE officials. But as usual no one is being held to account. Incredibly it is still the government policy to fully close Navan's Emergency Department." he said.
"A flu outbreak in Ireland is to be expected at this time of year and the fact that services across the country can't cope with additional demand is wrong and it is dangerous.
"The emergency department in Navan should play a significant role in the increased capacity that is needed in health services in the region. Pressure would be eased in Drogheda if a full ambulance service was reinstated there."
In a staement 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.
"Emergency Departments are always available to treat seriously ill patients and the sickest patients are seen first. People with less severe injuries and symptoms may have to wait to be seen."
