Sepsis deaths in hospitals.

https://www.thejournal.ie/aoife-johnston-death-inquest-6361296-Apr2024/?utm_source=shortlink

"She said Aoife Johnston and these 66 other seriously ill patients were waiting more than ten hours to see a doctor when the recommend standard waiting time for Category Two patients was “15 minutes”.

She said she telephoned an on-call consultant and told him of the risks to patients and asked him to come to the emergency department, but she said, “he declined my request”.

Another consultant initially declined to come to the ED but arrived later on."

Earning up to 240k, on-call, simply refuses to work.

Nobody wants to turn up at A&E if they can help it, you make it sound like people are doing it for the craic. Who are these people you're referring to as having an air of self importance, and 'forcing' their way into A&E?

How you can be so dismissive of someone seeking emergency treatment because they are genuinely scared, when this young woman is in the news for being the victim of gross negligence, is truly perplexing. I'm guessing you must be a front line worker to which you have my sympathy, but you're blaming the wrong people for what's currently happening in our health system.

It seems the figures I had for 2022 were incorrect. Mortality rates below WHO rates and comparable with similar countries

66 other patients we all triaged as category 2 - Emergency (to be seen within 15 minutes). The only higher level is category 1, which which Immediate (eg someone in cardiac or respiratory arrest). Slipped discs and uncomplicated broken bones would have been triaged lower and all 67 category 2 patients would be prioritised over them.

My mother was meant to be getting a transfer to another hospital a few weeks ago. Expecting a taxpayer funded ambulance but a charity (which I will not name) showed up to do the transfer. Apparently it's the done thing from time to time for our HSE to rely on charities to do their work, which in itself is an absolute disgrace. Top notch work by the charity I should add

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2024/04/23/aoife-johnston-inquest-limerick-hospital-was-not-a-safe-environment-for-patients-on-night-teen-died/

There were 191 patients in the emergency department

15 nurses on duty along with three doctors - one SHO and two registrars.

Category Two patients that weekend were waiting upto 19 hours.

A less-ill Category Three Patient faced a wait time of up to 39 hours.

Sounds like a situation that would warrant an emergency response plan to be activated - except it seems that the situation was also not exceptional at UHL

This is a massive failure at the highest levels of management in UHL and the HSE. Individual doctors and nurses are overwhelmed and working in a toxic environment. They don't deserve to be blamed, even if, as I'm sure the inquest will show, there were shortcomings in their management.

The more I hear reported on this case, the more shocking it gets. A major failure of our health system. You'd really feel for the parents, stuck in there with their very sick daughter, asking for help and getting little response. Blaming themselves when blameless, for not shouting louder - trusting a system which was failing miserably. And the staff who were deeply affected and left.

This Facebook page, among others, proves that Limerick A&E loves operating the way it does for whatever reason.

https://www.facebook.com/MidWestHospitalCampaign

EG:
"

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨.Figures have been counted by Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) who count Monday - Friday. INMO have been counting trolley figures since 2004 and have been universally accepted. "

having spent time with ill people in A&E there is something I can’t figure out. On entry to the area one gives all details to the receptionist name address age et etc and pays the required fee . The paperwork is thus done and dusted.

However if one gets a trolley near the nurses station office one can watch what’s going on. Many staff - doctors and nurses glued to a line of computer screens - what exactly are they filling in?
Are bureaucratic tick boxes taking up their time and attention?

Are they looking up a disease on DrGoogle

It seems the bureaucracy has achieved supremacy over sick people and I’s must be dotted and T’s must be crossed before something as mundane as temperatures, blood pressures and patients voices are sought.

Reviewing and updating patient records perhaps.

It's the sort of accurate, up to date information that is vital to being able to properly manage patient care and prioritise patients who need to be prioritised.

Anytime I've been the ER I've thought the same.

I remember another time a nurse kept filling out something on the door. Then I realised they were filling out that the patient in the room was checked, when they never ever entered the room..

I think this situation is very nuanced and I imagine there is similar risk every week in UHL and beyond. I was in A&E Galway recently and it was absolutely chaotic with a severe shortage of beds and staff. We were in the A&E for over a week and my relation never got to a ward bed even though we were officially "admitted".

Lack of bed capacity and medical staff is a major factor.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0425/1445591-johnston-inquest/