Eight patients 'stuck' in Mayo hospital due to no follow on care being available
INFORMATION released to Deputy Paul Lawless has highlighted that there are eight patients in Mayo University Hospital who are fit to be released but must remain in hospital due to a lack of care available.
“It’s incredibly upsetting to think that these patients have no choice but to stay in hospital despite being deemed fit for discharge,” said Deputy Lawless.
“It’s a similar story across the country with often times elderly patients having to stay in hospital where they struggle to sleep and risk picking up infection.”
The figures were released to Aontú following a Parliamentary Question, with just over 400 people clinically discharged but still in hospitals all around the country.
Deputy Lawless said that many of these people are struggling to get support at home once they are released from hospital.
“A major issue here is a shortage of nursing home beds and home help hours. I’ve been contacted by countless constituents who have been approved for home help hours but have not had these hours released.
“We have an ageing population and yet it seems the government have put little thought into future-proofing our healthcare system. There isn’t the extra capacity needed to allow our elderly to avail of home help or get a nursing home bed,” he commented.
“Aontú is calling on the Minister for Health and the HSE to recruit homecare workers directly if the private providers of homecare are letting them down. It would be in their economic interest to do so because the state would actually save money if they provided this service themselves.
“Currently they are paying extra to for profit private companies who are clearly failing to meet the capacity that is necessary.
“This is putting our elderly population at risk of deteriorating once they are deemed fit to be released. It also takes a toll on their mental health as they must remain in hospital instead of being discharged to a more comfortable setting where they can be more independent.”