The Mater hospital - Oh holy jesus!!

DeVore · 30-03-2012 09:49PM

Lets stay on topic and not get personal. </admin>

subscriber · 30-03-2012 09:52PM

AngryBollix wrote: »

What infections? Quite clearly it wasnt a joke given your explanation

What infections?? Sorry I forgot their is no infections to be caught in hospitals.... :rolleyes:

AngryBollix · 30-03-2012 09:54PM

subscriber wrote: »

What infections?? Sorry I forgot their is no infections to be caught in hospitals.... :rolleyes:

Did you catch one of these non existent infections?

seantorious · 30-03-2012 09:55PM

Having been in the mater for 6 months now its no where near as bad as you've described. And most of its existing problems stem from the fact that it has the 2nd highest number of alcholic or intoxicated patients in the world(Acapulco is 1st).

Ps most examinations don't require gloves, though the not washing hands thing is pretty bad

Icepick · 30-03-2012 09:58PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y-yH_Qyipc

take a chance, will ya

subscriber · 30-03-2012 09:59PM

Better off staying on topic here, my question remained at the end of my original post, how does the mater to stack up to other dublin hospitals in regards the attending clientele and hygiene standars? It is obviously worse so but in comparison with james's or any the others, is it that far behind?

AngryBollix · 30-03-2012 10:02PM

subscriber wrote: »

Better off staying on topic here, my question remained at the end of my original post, how does the mater to stack up to other dublin hospitals in regards the attending clientele and hygiene standars? It is obviously worse so but in comparison with james's or any the others, is it that far behind?

a) Why do you ask and b) How do you know?

KDII · 30-03-2012 10:03PM

subscriber wrote: »

The stink of piss in the emergency department waiting room is enough to make anyone throw up

I work in the healthcare sector too.

If actually do too, you will probably know that sick people are occasionally known to be incontinent. The ED staff can't exactly hose down the offender if they happen to smell bad, the person may not have been seen yet and the staff weren't sitting beside them like you were.

subscriber wrote: »

I was seen by one of the junior (teenage) doctors who proceeded to examine me without either washing his hands

Did you see him move from another patient to you without washing his hands? If so, unacceptable practice but not exactly a reflection of the hygiene practices of the entire hospital.

subscriber wrote: »

or putting on a pair of sterile gloves.

Unnecessary unless he was doing a sterile procedure.

subscriber wrote: »

I also noticed a few needle caps (non sharp) just discarded on treatment trolley's after doctors had finished hanging drips for patients.

Are you talking about the plastic caps that cover sharps? There is actually nothing dirty about them unless they were re-sheathed after use, but you didn't witness that so no reason to believe they were. It might make for a messy doctor but certainly not an unhygienic one.

crackcrack30 · 30-03-2012 10:03PM

I would be inclined to wear gloves ect. to propect myself aswell as the patient......

OP... prior to this poor experience you ( like 96% of the general public) probably couldn't give a toss about waiting times, trollies, security, drunks, dirt, or infection control in our crumbling health care system, and that is why it continues ....sheer apathy (is that the right word) on behalf of public that dosen't need hse healthcare... ..YET:rolleyes:

on a side note - Joan burton should have taken a trip around to the A&E departments to see how our hard earned social welfare was spent on paddys day/night, an absolute fooking disgrace and not to many of these people were the morgage paying type as you may have guessed...........

.

RMD · 30-03-2012 10:03PM

It isn't a general reflection of the Mater. Due to it's location it's where the lowest of scum end up after OD'ing, fighting, drinking themselves into a coma etc. The medical staff have to deal with this shít hour after hour, it doesn't excuse the lack of hygiene (student doctor by the sound of your description) but something I'd take into account.

A family member of mine has been treated in there for cancer for over a year now, once you get away from the scum and drama it seems like a very professional place.

I wouldn't label the whole hospital on your experience, sadly though an A&E that close to the city centre will face this type of crap.

AngryBollix · 30-03-2012 10:03PM

seantorious wrote: »

Having been in the mater for 6 months now its no where near as bad as you've described. And most of its existing problems stem from the fact that it has the 2nd highest number of alcholic or intoxicated patients in the world(Acapulco is 1st).

Ps most examinations don't require gloves, though the not washing hands thing is pretty bad

I'd be surprised if this wasnt the exception rather than the rule.

ctrl-alt-delete · 30-03-2012 10:03PM

The creation of a two tier system is and always will be the problem.

cloud493 · 30-03-2012 10:03PM

Well I was waiting in the beaumount for quite a while last year after losing a fair bit of blood. But it was busy, and they did a good job more or less, so there we are.

Dermighty · 30-03-2012 10:14PM

subscriber wrote: »

I didn't mention in my OP but I too work in the healthcare sector

I'm a bouncer...so technically I work in the private security sector, entertainment industry, the hospitality sector and in a customer service role. The fact is none of that means anything.

Just because you work in the healthcare sector doesn't mean you're a good judge of hospital hygiene standards.

What you saw was probably a hangable offense in some/all/most hospitals, just highlighting that unless you're a doctor or a nurse or a health inspector then your opinion is no better than any elses opinion.

subscriber · 30-03-2012 10:16PM

RMD wrote: »

It isn't a general reflection of the Mater. Due to it's location it's where the lowest of scum end up after OD'ing, fighting, drinking themselves into a coma etc. The medical staff have to deal with this shít hour after hour, it doesn't excuse the lack of hygiene (student doctor by the sound of your description) but something I'd take into account.

A family member of mine has been treated in there for cancer for over a year now, once you get away from the scum and drama it seems like a very professional place.

I wouldn't label the whole hospital on your experience, sadly though an A&E that close to the city centre will face this type of crap.

Ya certainly not trying to label the entire hospital but I seen in the ED dept was far from acceptable.. To be fair I cannot comment on other wards / clinics

uck51js9zml2yt · 30-03-2012 10:25PM

OP at what point did u ask the doctor treating you to wash his hands.?

my wife just spent 4 nights in there with surgery on Wednesday and home Thursday.
she was through to treatment in an hour.was in a room on her own for 24 hours in a+e and moved up to the ward after 24 hours.
the old building just great but u couldn't fault the staff. they looked after her and took the time to explain what was happening. English isn't her first language.

she's now home and in the mend thanks go the staff there.

subscriber · 30-03-2012 10:26PM

KDII wrote: »

I work in the healthcare sector too.

If actually do too, you will probably know that sick people are occasionally known to be incontinent. The ED staff can't exactly hose down the offender if they happen to smell bad, the person may not have been seen yet and the staff weren't sitting beside them like you were.

Did you see him move from another patient to you without washing his hands? If so, unacceptable practice but not exactly a reflection of the hygiene practices of the entire hospital.

Unnecessary unless he was doing a sterile procedure.

Are you talking about the plastic caps that cover sharps? There is actually nothing dirty about them unless they were re-sheathed after use, but you didn't witness that so no reason to believe they were. It might make for a messy doctor but certainly not an unhygienic one.

I'm certainly not expecting to hose down the waiting area but in my 10 hours in there I never once saw cleaning staff pass through there for any kind of cleaning maintenance. (RE - Waiting area)

Yes I absolutely did see him move from one patient to another without washing..

Yes it was a sterile procedure involving sharps..

dj jarvis · 30-03-2012 10:35PM

antodeco wrote: »

HIQUA? That's the noise I make when I catch my goolies in my zip.

quote of the millennium , i just peed a little

KDII · 30-03-2012 10:35PM

What I'm saying is the smell was more than likely coming from another person in the waiting room. There is little the staff can do about this.

And majority of procedures involving sharps do not require sterile gloves. The procedure you had done is none of my concern or business, just making you aware of this.

jonnny68 · 30-03-2012 10:40PM

welcome to the 3rd world Irish health service where you even have to pay for the privlege if you don't have private rip off health insurance or a medical card, i feel sorry for the overworked doctors and nurses it's not their fault it's the incompetent crooks in Government and those before them, both equally as bad as each other, bail the bankers out while the health system deteriorates rapidly and people die on hispital trolleys, of course you would never see any TD on a trolly in a public hospital, if they needed medical care it would be a nice cosy private room with round the clock care not an overcrowded a+e corridor where old people have to spend 36+ hours on a trolley before they are lucky enough to get a bed, my old dear spent this amount of time on a trolley in the Mater last year and could have died she was that ill.

Remember the next time FF/FG/Lab/SF (all equally as bad and corrupt as each other) come knocking on your door come election time (the only time your likely to see them) if you've ever unfortunate enough to have been in a situation like this or similar (tip of the iceberg as well)

rant over

mikemac1 · 30-03-2012 10:48PM

jetsonx wrote: »

The current third-world state of the health service is a result of years of
HSE and Fianna Fail mismanagement.

Spending on health budget and Ministers for Finance

Charlie McCreevy 2002 6.5 billion
Brian Cowan 2008 15.5 billion
Michael Noonan 2012 13.6 billion

Just a few minutes of googling, the info is easy to find

Fianna Fáil pumped huge money into health

So where is it going?

Is there a black hole somewhere?

I'm hearing all these protests and crying about cutbacks.
But maybe the budget is big enough and they don't need any more money, they have enough money but just manage to piss a lot of it away

So maybe stop pumping in more and more money until the entire area is audited

Nodin · 30-03-2012 10:50PM

subscriber wrote: »

Im living in dublin on a short term basis and today had to spend 10 hours in the mater (public) hospital today due to unforeseeable circumstances, I have never in my life witnessed such a low standard of hygiene in any hospital or any other public health premises for that matter.

The stink of piss in the emergency department waiting room is enough to make anyone throw up not to mention the amount of junkies and prisoners from the joy across the road falling around the place either on a come down from some illicit substance or starting arguments with other patients and generally being loud, arrogant and annoying. ............

Is there an A&E anywhere in a largish city that isn't like that?

subscriber · 30-03-2012 10:57PM

Nodin wrote: »

Is there an A&E anywhere in a largish city that isn't like that?

I have to say my home county a and e is in a large city and standards far exceed the mater....

Not being confrontational but it is true...

Nodin · 30-03-2012 11:09PM

subscriber wrote: »

I have to say my home county a and e is in a large city and standards far exceed the mater....

Not being confrontational but it is true...

Well I was in the Mater A&E(in 2003) and it was much as you describe. I was in Tallaght A&E(few months back) and it was far cleaner and better run, though still full of the lovely folk you mentioned.

Where/Which is your home country, might I ask?

dj jarvis · 30-03-2012 11:13PM

i had the misfortune of delivering a " acquaintance " to A+E in the matter during the good old tiger era , he was drinking in a pub , got mouthy with some locals from sheriff st area , ( he was the most obnoxious person on the planet with beer on him )
so when he next went to the toilet the gentlemen he was annoying followed him in and gave him a double Glasgow grin for his troubles
( for those who dont know its 2 razor blades with a match in between , makes a cut that is near imposable to repair )
so from ear to mouth cut to ribbons and PUMPING blood we were thrown from the pub after asking for a ambulance to be called for ( friendly Ireland my hole ) , so after paying a taxi driver 4 times the normal price we got to the matter,
thinking he would be a emergency case, to say i was shocked at what happened next is a major understatement

the nurses rolled eyes up wards , cursed something at us and told us to follow them to this room , went in and nearly dies with the vista before me

a room that would normally hold 4/6 beds had about 15 mattresses laid out on the floor , and on all were people in different states of horror , blood and vomit EVERYWHERE , people moaning , some fighting , real war zone stuff

we ask where should we put him , they said anywhere we liked , we asked when will he be seen to due to the blood loss , response was when he sobers up ( he was unconscious by either blood loss or alcohol )

all we could do was dump him on this scabby mattress and leave

it could have been Sarajevo in the Balkans wars - a real opener and i have seen some mad ****e in my time

saw him briefly a few week later,
and it looked like Edward scissors hands had stitched him up .
and on a tragic note he was murdered in another pub , apparently he was talking when he should have been listening , pity really when off the soupy he was hyper intelligent - with novels and screenplays to his name

DeVore · 30-03-2012 11:18PM

pumping money into our health care system with its massively over paid "top brass" is like pumping water into a hose with holes in it.

CB19Kevo · 30-03-2012 11:18PM

People do not seem to realise how bad a state most of the ED's are in this country. This is largely not the fault of the staff who are overworked and working in cramped positions.
This all has a knock on effect on the ambulance service, And often there can be 5 or so ambulances waiting to unload in some of Dublin's hospitals due to lack of trolleys.
Its not good enough, Its very dangerious but its what we got.....

Freddie59 · 30-03-2012 11:22PM

cloud493 wrote: »

Hospitals have to do the best they can with what they have. If they don't have the money, they don't have the money. Cutbacks and what not.

Sorry - I cannot agree with that. There is NO excuse for poor hygiene in hospitals. Cutbacks or not. Perhaps if the cleaners were supervised by in-house HSE staff than themselves then things might change.

cloud493 · 30-03-2012 11:26PM

Yes but if doctors and nurses are underpaid. and or overworked, if you tell them they have to supervise clean up time too, not gonna be happy bunnies.

Wibbs · 30-03-2012 11:26PM

AngryBollix wrote: »

If the €100 household was used to improve something like this would more people pay it?

No. Why? Because the ruling/organisational sector in this country couldn't organise a pissup in a brewery.

AngryBollix wrote: »

What does one expect when cutbacks are enforced?

You never get more with less.

You get less with less

Yea AB that's a common explanation/excuse, the problem is that in the boom they had plenty of money. Indeed Ireland has one of the highest funding levels among health services in the EU.... annnnnd we're back to pissups in breweries. I've sadly had personal experience of their sheer inefficiency, even medical malpractice on more than one occasion and I don't hold out much hope for the future. Not unless there is a big shakeup and since turkeys won't vote for xmas... It has a huge admin population, yet ask doctors on the ground how much paperwork they have to fill out. Daft. This is having a real effect on people's health. Compare the survival stats for breast and bowel cancer in Ireland compared to other EU nations and the diffs are stark. About the only area we excel in is pregnancy and birth and fair play, but IMHO and IME that's down as much to the dedication of folks at the sharp end against the odds, than any management expertise and application.

The Mater hospital - Oh holy jesus!!

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