*A section of Saturday’s crowd reflected through a mirror in Ennis. Photograph: Martin Molloy.ย
PROMISES OF a centre of excellence have instead resulted in โa war zone,โ a local health activist has claimed.
Strong criticism of the health services on offer in the Mid-West region were voiced by Friends of Ennis Hospital spokesperson, Angela Coll at Saturdayโs protest organised by the Mid-West Hospital Campaign.
All of the conversations regarding University Hospital Limerick (UHL) relate to overcrowding on trolleys, she maintained. Of the record 126 people left waiting on trolleys in April, she remarked that over the past year โit doesnโt cover the fact that 6,670 people walked out of UHL because they couldnโt wait to be seenโ.
Angela recalled a recent experience where she was waiting for someone at UHL for four hours in the emergency department and she claimed that a man who had fallen off a roof, had his head stained in blood and only a towel to cover the bleeding was left was walking around in a daze for hours before receiving treatment.
She continued, โIn 2015, Colette Cowan promised cap of 20 people on trollleys per day, it is fair to say that boat sailed away a long time agoโ. In the event of a fire emergency, โthere is not a snowballs chance the corridors could be evacuated,โ the Ennis woman flagged.
โWe have an approximate population of 120,000 in Clare, we are the only county of its size without an accident and emergency unit,โ she added. The county is one of the best tourist destinations in Ireland but pales in significance with its quality of health services, Angela commented. โWe were promised a centre of excellence, we got a war zoneโ.
Nenaghโs Conor Reidy shared the experience of his late father Johnny who died at the age of 87 in UHL. He claimed that the fact his father was a medical card patient ensured he was left waiting โfor hoursโ at the eye clinic. โIt is a vile two tier health system,โ he remarked. His father spent two nights on a trolley in UHL in his final few months, โpicture the scene, narrow corridors, trolleys toe to toe, forget the toilet, forget the pain or discomfort, this is maximum pain and distressโ.
According to Conor, conditions at UHL resemble โa monstrous dystopian nightmareโ. He acknowledged that it is โa fine hospital once you get past the A&Eโ. Reidy admitted, โI donโt have it in me to forgive the HSEโ who he accused of โterrorisingโ his father in โhis final few weeksโ. He concluded, โItโs time we got off the screens and onto the streets. The game is up, the great experiment has failed, it is time to take back our hospitals. He was my father and his name was Johnny Reidyโ.