A&E horror for mum and baby
The mother of a nine-month-old baby who was treated on the floor of the A&E at CUH has said that she is dreading having to return there.
Rebecca O’Riordan’s daughter Emmeline began to suffer multiple seizures on 17 February. The infant was brought to SouthDoc where her parents were advised to take her to A&E immediately.
A lack of available trolleys due to severe overcrowding at the hospital meant that Emmeline was not seen to for several hours, during which time her seizures continued.
Speaking to the Cork Independent, Rebecca described how she and her daughter were moved from seat to seat before finally, at approximately 6am, they were brought into an empty room.
“We basically played musical chairs for a while. The nurses kept apologising, but we told them they had nothing to apologise for. They were doing everything they could. It's not their fault at all,” said Rebecca.
Due to Emmeline’s dangerously high temperature, Rebecca was forced to take a blanket from her back and lay her daughter out on the floor in an attempt to cool her down.
Rebecca said: “Then the nurse came in and saw that her temperature was very high, so she got down on her hands and knees and gave her a suppository on the floor.
“She kept saying she was sorry. But I said that I was sorry that she had to work in these conditions.”
Shortly after they were moved to another room that Rebecca could only describe as ‘unfinished’.
“There were ladders against the wall and wires hanging down from the ceiling, and every couple of minutes there were three electricians coming in wondering what we were doing there,” she explained.
Emmeline was finally admitted to the paediatric ward at 9am on the morning of 18 February, more than nine hours after she first arrived at CUH.
Two days later, Emmeline’s parents were told that her immune system was extremely compromised and that she was very susceptible to infection. They then filed a formal complaint with the hospital.
Rebecca said that Emmeline’s seizures mean that they will be forced to bring her back to A&E in the future.
“Unfortunately for us we're going to have to go back. We were given special medication to give her when she’s having a seizure, and we were told the first two times we use it we will have to take her to A&E. We're dreading going back,” she said.
According to figures released by the INMO, on 17 February CUH was the second most overcrowded hospital in the country with 46 patients forced to wait on trolleys, second to University Hospital Limerick with 64.
A spokesperson for CUH said that they could not comment on individual cases, but that the hospital is experiencing significant overcrowding.
The spokesperson added that the public should only attend A&E in the case of a genuine emergency and that staff management are working to prioritise the discharge of patients as soon as possible where appropriate.