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CORK UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, Mercy Hospital and St. Vincent’s are among nine hospitals across the country with no available ICU beds, as Covid-19 cases rise and new restrictions come into effect.
The latest HSE data shows that of 28 acute hospitals around the country, nine facilities, including Cork University Hospital, University Hospital Kerry and Mercy Hospital did not have any available ICU beds as of 6.30pm yesterday.
It comes after health officials confirmed 1.095 cases of Covid-19 in Ireland and five further deaths. It was announced last night that Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan will be put under Level 4 restrictions while a nationwide ban on household visitors comes into effect at midnight.
ICU capacity and hospital admissions have continued to rise in recent weeks amid calls for increased ICU capacity heading into winter.
As part of Budget 2021, €22 billion will be earmarked for the health service with plans to increase ICU capacity to 321 by the end of next year.
There are currently 214 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Irish hospitals, including 30 cases in ICU. The number of hospitalised cases dropped from 240 on Monday to 214 last night.
Speaking last week, HSE CEO Paul Reid said Ireland’s hospital system is “challenged, not overwhelmed” but warned that some hospitals will have to trigger surge capacity to facilitate Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 ventilation.
Reid warned that some planned procedures this winter will be impacted.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie last week, intensive care consultant at University Hospital Limerick Dr Catherine Motherway said the delivery of acute beds – and the staffing for those beds – will be important for ICUs.
“We need hospital bed numbers to expand so that when we have a patient ready for discharge from the ICU, they have a bed to go to and their ICU bed can go to another patient.
“Both the critical care beds and the general ward beds need to be expanded and while there is a commitment to do that, it’s broad strokes in [the HSE's Winter Plan]. I’m not privy to the intricacies of where they’ll go and how they’ll do it.”
She said recruitment “can’t be done in one fell swoop”.
“It can be difficult to recruit nurses particularly to work in Dublin, which is where I imagine many of the additional ICU beds will be. The cost of living in Dublin is so high for people on an average wage.
“The work in Dublin ICUs is satisfying because it’s complex work, but there is a challenge there and a challenge in terms of retention of ICU staff too.”
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Proof of a complete failure of the HSE and Government
@Paul Dolan: we have a joke amount of icu beds, they should have setup a crack team to build 2000 icu beds across the country that are ready by now.
@Paul Dolan: That defeats the very reason they wanted this first long lockdown… they even called health staff back from abroad and didn’t use them…
We are again at the beginning with less public support left.
@Dav Nagle: How quick do you think ICU staff can be trained? Unfortunately it’s not as simple as providing wards & beds.
@Paul Dolan: not the HSE it’s the government they told the government this was going to happen
@Paul Dolan: there is on 36 covid patients in ICU’s also throw in the amount of ICU beds in the private sector. Plus the new ones that are being built. A lot of work and plans in place
@Dav Nagle: they have extra capacity built in to the system for emergency use. Also it would be interesting to find out how many of these patients are in ICU with covid19 being the primary diagnosis.
@TL55: Stop how long do they need to be ready then? 1 yr? 2 yrs? We have being in this for months so surely they trained staff by now. We will hear awful stories of neglect of our sick and elderly this winter. God help anyone who has to go to hospital.
@Patrick O Connell:
Are you having a laugh.
@Wreck Tangle: Unfortunately he has form when it comes to those kind of announcements.
@Stephen Brady: I’m all for clear stats and agree in general that the distinction between ‘with COVID’ and ‘from COVID’ would make things a lot clearer but in this case what difference does it make how many are primary COVID? If you are in ICU under ventilation with COVID it is probable that it is at least a significant contributing factor. If they are positive they have to be segregated from non-COVID and are thus using COVID capacity. The number of COVID cases in ICU are in the daily stats. A more useful stat is the number of assigned COVID beds against total and how much flex capacity exists without compromising non-COVID needs.
@Wreck Tangle: they are running out of ICU beds in Northern Ireland as well, it worse up there. The assembly up there is a joke
@Patrick O Connell: What is dole day Paddy?
@David Corrigan: better off not knowing, better to be a taxpayer like the rest of us
@Dav Nagle: it is not the beds or the ventilator that is the issue it’s the highly trained icu staff needed 10 icu nurses per bed there isn’t the available staffing suitably trained. That takes time and available staff neither possible at this point
@Nell foran: it’s not so long since they had a ban on recruitment and instead paid a kings ransom for agency nurses to come in on contract – in what world did that ever make sense?
@Dav Nagle: An A team of crack commandos that specialise in building ICU beds perhaps?
@Patrick O Connell: The assembly up there are a joke? What about our own government? They are every bit as much a joke but I don’t see you criticise them
@Paul Dolan: proof of failure of people not following simple guide lines well-done.
@Patrick O Connell: If the spread gets worse and people start dying due to Covid ICU surge then tell the families of people with Covid and others with regular medical needs who go on to die from the virus about these ‘plans’, most of them being taxpayers.
In 2009 there was a report made to government that the required minimum ICU capacity should be 580, back then we had a lower population and no pandemic.
Activists were pushing on the government to adequately staff the healthcare system with the ‘Still Waiting’ campaign for the entirety of the duration of the last government.
They CHOSE not to listen.
You government sycophants can lay yours and the lives of your loved ones on the line to protect the government from any criticism if you want, but you won’t fool me and you won’t fool most people.
And before you go making elitist down punches at me for saying this, I work in the healthcare sector and continue to do so through this pandemic.
You want to support healthcare workers? Then STOP playing keeper for the government, the best thing you could do to help us is criticise them relentlessly.
Maybe you don’t want to support healthcare workers? Okay, then have some logical coherence and don’t come running to us when this blows up in your face and tragedy comes knocking on your door.
@Patrick O Connell: People in glass houses..
@Dav Nagle: you’ll notice there was no governmemt delays appointing there assistant’s or pushing through there pay rises.
@Paul Dolan: Completely agree, we’re spending 20% more per capita on our public health service than EU average and we’ve the youngest population in EU – where is all our money going?
@TL55: It’s that simple in other countries.
@Patrick O Connell: are you that delusional the government paid €97 to owners of private beds during pandemic and didn’t use them, only reason we have any beds is because people waiting years for operations have been pushed back to end of queue only emergency procedures carried out, when this is over eventually there will be a bigger death toll then covid could ever cause, so the bug plans you talk about are just that plans as for work! A hospital that should be up and running at less then half the cost is still a building site which has gone billions over budget so curly Larry and moe can blame covid for next 4yrs as excuse but people are not that stupid as to believe there guff
@Fintan Mac Giolla Pharic: Agencies are a massive inefficient drain on resources.
@Fintan Mac Giolla Pharic: And that’s a government decision, not HSE.
@Paul Dolan: proof of complete failure of large portions of society to stick to very basic rules to halt the spread. You can’t always blame the clowns at the top when the clowns beside you are even worse
@Dav Nagle: completely ridiculous comment. 2000 beds would require approximately 12’000 highly trained support personnel over a 24hr period. Where are you getting these people?
@Paul Dolan: The entire management of the HSE should be sacked
Any chance ICU beds would be at or near capacity regardless of the “pandemic”?
Would anyone consider the history of the trolley crises over the years, that the ICUs were jammed also.
@Vladimir Macro: ICU beds are always stretched.
@Vladimir Macro: True. But in fairness, the writing was on the wall with Covid-19, it was always going to rise again and it seems no preparations were made by FFG or the HSE.
@Vladimir Macro: bad enough if capacity was insufficient already, never mind now with 35 covid patients and more on the way.
@Football in the Groin: I think the winter plan is bringing on stream 251 extra acute beds and 17 ICU beds. It can’t happen quickly enough though.
There are 30 people in the country in ICU related to Covid. I would guess that at least some of them would have been in ICU without covid. That says an awful lot about our system that we can’t cope with a small number of extra cases. Just wondering how many other people are in ICU because they couldn’t get treated in a timely manner because of Covid
@Anne Marie Devlin: this proves the whole covid situation is being blown way out of proportion.
This the reason we need to go to level 5
@Micheal: too many people in Ireland not following the level 3 restrictions have led to this, why aren’t there fines for people not wearing masks indoors at shops etc? Too many brain donors in this country
@Micheal: why though, your just kicking the can down the road just like the last time.. It beggars belief the amount of people looking for level 5 without actually thinking this through properly seriously like
@Micheal: But Covid ICU figures are 30, of which many are not in ICU due to Covid, but have tested positive after admission for a non Covid reason.
@SB: what are you talking about? Who hasn’t thought it through? Do you need to wait until we have no ICU beds left in the system? THATS ALREADY HAPPENING!! Or do you need to wait until we have scenes like there was in Italy before we move into level 5???
@Micheal: “too many people in Ireland not following the level 3 restrictions have led to this,” —and you know this how? I await your link(s) to studies carried out that prove this fact.
@Jack Cass: open your eyes, if you came out of your Mams house every once in a while you’d see it for yourself.
@Micheal: Level 5 will decimate the country’s economy and people’s lives a lot more than Coivid will for those who contract it. I know that is a morbid thought but it is reality. What happens when we come out of a Level 5 scenario were cases have dropped and we try to open up…and then hey presto cases rise again…what the next step Micheal? Rinse and repeat?
@Simon Connolly: I completely agree Simon that will happen but I think we have keep doing it until we have the vaccine, we need to flatten this spike, then open back up and if it spikes again do the same.
@Micheal: So you have no evidence to back your statement? Right so.
@Micheal: I take it your work/salary is unaffected if the country was to go to Level 5?
@Micheal: That’s all well and good in theory but the reality is the economy will not stand up ti that kind of stress..we’ve seen that already with the initial lockdown and reopening..a vaccine is god kniw how long away..we can’t keep locking down and ooening up again and again..nevermind people’s mental health being significantly impacted!
@SB: give us your well thought out solutions please
@Micheal: Seen examples left right centre of people not caring the last month, in public in full view. I can imagine how their hygiene is behind closed doors. As a minority they have fkd it up for everyone else.
@Micheal: ill ask you the question what difference is it going to make going to level 5, none whatsoever because what will happen is that a few months later just like now you’ll see another spike in cases, so no clearly this is just a knee jerk reaction and not thought through in the slightest
@Dave Byrne: I work in a pub
@SB: no the whole point is to stop the spike before we run out of ICU beds now, at least it will buy us a few months
@SB: but a few months later we will have better treatments in place and will be much closer to a vaccine which means more lives saved. Last week you were saying that we should be like Poland. 116 lost their lives from Covid yesterday in Poland. That’s not the solution.
@SB: Have you read up on the purpose of the lockdowns yet ? You were here recently claiming the first lockdown didn’t work because the virus is still around.
@Micheal: there is absolutely no guarantee of a vaccine. The flu has been around for a century and the vaccine is about 50-70% effective any given year. We probably do need one more lockdown but they need to get on top of contact tracing if levels get low again and try to source rapid saliva tests. They’ve been approved in a few places now.
@Micheal: so we should restrict the lives of everyone because the HSE, despite six months to prepare, can’t do its job. How many ICU beds were available at the start of last winter? Only 30 beds are occupied by patients with Covid, many of who would be there even without covid.
Keep your distance, wash your hands, wear a mask when required, limit the number of people you engage with and you’ll be grand.
@Micheal: I think it’s a great idea, you lock yourself away from society so the rest of us can carry on with our lives without threatening those like yourself who seem to be still swallowing this corona cahoñes
@Micheal: Speak for yourself
Imagine what the money James St hospital building site could buy us now. Well done Simon and Co!!
@David Crombie: You’re failing to distinguish between current an capital expenditure. Adding an ICU bed is a recurring expense, building a hospital is a one-off; unfortunately we’re waisting more than the St James’s overrun every year on current health expenditure, which is a bigger scandal, but it doesn’t attract the same attention. We spend 20% more than EU average on our public heath service, but we only give medical cards to half the population and we’ve the youngest population in EU, which suggests our health service is exceptionally expensive and highly inefficient. For example, Finland spends less than Ireland on their public health service for an older population, they provide medical cards to their entire population, and their health outcomes are universally superior – how can they do this for less money? Maybe we should recruit a few Finns to run our public health service.
Most other Countries “shored” up there resources and ensured as many ICU beds as possible as everyone knew a second, third, fourth phase was possible. Our crowd had 7 months to ensure the maximum amount of beds were ready and staff to work them. Our leaders did very little except ensuring junior ministers received a 17K pay rise. The HSE should have been banging on doors to get the funding for this but they did not and as a result, we now find ourselves in a state of lock down to “protect the HSE”. This is absolute incompetence at it’s very best
@Paul Dolan: the HSE as an organisation is just as culpable as the Government. They have plenty of funding, they just can’t spend it well
@Paul Dolan: I think you will find it’s the clowns that are having house parties are the cause of this rise in numbers not the gov or HSE
There are 30 COVID ICU patients, how many beds are in total nation wide is there.
@Peter Tutty: I think just over 270
@Peter Tutty: 280 ICU beds in total
30 in ICU that have a positive PCR test but they may be in there for several different reasons.
Of all deaths recorded as Covid only 80 were deemed suitable to go into ICU.
Only 41% ever went to hospital
Why ?
@Seamus Hughes: the elephant in the room. Nursing homes
@Peter Tutty: Less than 300 ICU beds for a population of 5m+ seems like a ridiculously low ratio (yes,I know that means the people to staff those beds too) – I wonder what the numbers are in Denmark or Scotland or New Zealand..?
@David Willis: according to wiki Ireland has 6.5 ICU beds per 100,000. No numbers for Scotland but the UK has 6.6 and Denmark has 6.7. We seem to be middle of the pack when it comes to the number of ICU beds per capita.
@Seamus Hughes: many that died in nursing homes did not go to hospital.
Funny when Tony Holohan recommended we go to level five and there was not enough icu beds Reid came out and said there was plenty of beds and we are ready…Another one like varadkar that was found out…now we are reaping what we have sowed and the flu hasn’t even hit yet.varadkar and Martin are limping towards their next holiday before imposing level five so that they can disappear and Leo can move back into his second home farmleigh.I despair for our country and our people with this self serving narcissist spin politician who just want to be popular one mr varadkar
@Martin Smith: give it a rest
@Tony Lyons: Why dont you give it a rest!,!
I totally agree, the current government couldnt run a p1ss up in a brewery and Leo and Simon Harris should be held answerable and accountable for the nursing homes scandal.
6th worst in the world for nursing home deaths from covid, all while they were in the top jobs.
@Martin Smith: I think you will find it’s the clowns that are having house parties are the cause of this rise in numbers not the gov
@Martin Smith: Its not just Ireland.
Those who should be running countries stay in the private sector.
If the Government had of build the new children’s hospital on a green field site like out on the n7 or beside Blanchardstown hospital we could have built an entire new wing especially for ICU for this pandemic. And it still would have cost less than the other one is costing
@Will: *have
The government was warned about this ignore it and this is what happens and it’s going to get worse we need to look out for each other stay safe
One thing here we need to consider. Covid-19 is showing that the health system and hospitals are not great. Instead of investing our taxed money in welfare, why don’t they invest in hospitals? 40% taxes plus 50% taxes when you get bonus… and they are not invested in the health system? Something here is totally wrong
@BatmanDC: the health service is incredibly well funded in Ireland. The HSE is a bloated mess et up by our current Taoiseach. It’s a black hole of money that pays huge sums to private companies for outsourcing (see CPL healthcare). We still need an investment in welfare especially at this time.
@BatmanDC: votes aren’t bought with healthcare
Wow that’s not good.. would they not have opened the extra beds before they were full..? This is not going to be a pleasant winter…
In the 7 months since lockdown, how many extra ICU beds have been provided in readiness for the second wave? Please don’t tell me that this time was squandered
@Cormac Harrington: I’m gunna take a shot in the dark and say its fek all
@Cormac Harrington: capacity was increased by 25%
Very worrying for Cork. We are maxed out in the 2 acute hospitals This just leaves private hospitals and the South Infirmary
@saoirse janneau: that’s because there are many doctors & staff infected at CUH. It’s affecting their capacity.
I can understand how other units get infected but the Covid unit being infected makes you wonder are staff provided with proper PPE.
7 months to get our hospitals sorted for either a second wave or flu season and nothing done. Any competent government and HSE would have used the lull period after initial lockdown to increase capacity in the event of a worst case scenario but no, here we are yet again with the government being reactive rather than proactive. Probably thought they could save a few quid and not increase beds. Even now, its going to be increased by a measly amount. What a joke.
Very misleading headline :
30 beds occupied by confirmed Covid cases and 11 by suspected Covid cases
Total ICU adult beds : 279 (!!!)
Headline should be: early October and once again ICU capacity proves inadequate.
What have you been doing HSE?
Let’s also stress that of these 41 icu cases some will be in hospital for other conditions and test positive either on screening or are infected while in hospital but are not in ICU due to Covid complications.
A headline that reflects this would be welcome rather than “ Covid 19 / no free ICU beds”.
Panicking people is damaging. Remember that in the future.
This is not an unusual situation irrespective of COVID
Is there a breakdown of Covid patients per ICU?
A slow applause for FF and FG who over many years allowed our hospitals to get to this state.
So I can go to work mix with 10 other people from 10 other households but cant visit my mother… Starting to feel like we are been taken for mugs..
Choice: shutdown the country put hundreds of thousands of work make people poorer, increase debt for young 21 billion and counting cause dangerous deflation,,,, or invest in health care!
It’s clear now that Leo the Ego needs to have his wings clipped and his beak shut
Scaremongering.
This Government wasted the summer instead of preparing for winter with more icu beds and staff.
But they are what we have at the moment so we are stuck with them.
OH! WHEN IS THIS Woulfe character going to grace us with his presence to answer questions.
@Dave Barrett: they were to busy deciding who could be head boy first
Shortage of beds nurses doctors this problem did not just start with covid cancer 600.000 WITING FOR DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS
I thought there was a contingency plan and field hospitals ready to be deployed. In France when some regions maxed out on ICU they turned a train into an ambulance and transported the patients elsewhere, even in some case in other countries. Can they requisition a hotel and turn it into a clinic ? Kick the bureaucracy out of this government before it’s too late…
@saoirse janneau: the head of infectious diseases was on rte radio on Monday saying they were ok
6 beds for the whole county in Wexford. All full but only 1 with Covid.
Only 1 comment out of 91 addressed the reason for bed shortages is personal related ! Rhe government can create all the beds they need but they don’t have the skilled staff ie. Icu nurses and doctors, to staff them . It takes years to proficiently staff each bed with the skill set required. In the mean time people are gripping about politicians. They need to provide incentives to try an rerecruit all the icu trained staff who’ve left over the years to come back.
@Ci: There is no point in talking sense to these people. They pull ideas out of the air that have no bearing on reality. Then they add in complete waffle about how badly equipped and run Irish hospitals are. All based on their own prejudices, misleading headlines and anecdotes.
….and you had how long to plan for this ? What on earth is going on ???????
Say what you might, there are countries in the world where you would be turned away from a hospital if you didn’t have money! Yes we have problems and they need to addressed shrapish but let’s be thankful for the fact that we can go to a hospital without fear of being told that we don’t earn enough!
Secondly, I think that opening specialist beds is not a simple or linear process, the headlines telling us that people died while in ICU due to poor care would be hell of a lot worse so things have to be pulled together from many different areas.
And add to that a whole world looking for equipment and trained staff, I am sure glad I am not trying to expand capacity or make important decisions!
All we can and should do is our bit and protect each other!
have your say