Kilkenny councillor slams conditions at St Luke’s Hospital

A Fianna Fáil councillor who spent 22 hours on a trolley at St Luke’s Hospital has slammed the conditions at the hospital describing them as ‘degrading and humiliating’.
Councillor Joe Malone attended his GP last Monday with severe abdominal pain and was referred to the Emergency Department at St Luke’s Hospital.
“I went to the hospital at 3.15pm with threatened appendicitus and by 5pm they had done my bloods,” he said.
However the councillor told the Kilkenny People that following this initial interaction he ‘waited over six hours to see a doctor’.
“I was in a lot of pain and I didn’t get to see a doctor until around 9.15pm. The waiting was almost unbearable.
“Then I had a chest x-ray before 10pm and I was admitted at midnight on a trolley in a cubicle in the Emergency Department and I was there for 22 hours,” he said.
“It was hard lying there and at 10pm on Tuesday night I was admitted to the Surgical 1 Ward on the corridor,” he added.
“There is a lack of dignity and respect - in no way should there be men and women having to share the one room. I would have major concerns over privacy,” he said referring to the fact that the ward was mixed.
Furthermore Cllr Malone pointed out that there were other concerns surrounding privacy.
“I gave blood in a corridor and there was not even a screen around me,” the 55-year-old remarked.
Cllr Malone stressed that he found the staff very helpful at all times but wanted the highlight the tough conditions that they have to work in.
“I was well looked after up there but the staff are under savage pressure. I would be reluctant to go back because of the ethos of having males and females in one ward as well as people stuck out on corridors with no privacy.”
Cllr Malone, was discharged and returned home the following day.
He pointed out that he sits on the HSE Health Forum and would be calling on the Minister for Health, Simon Harris to come to St Luke’s Hospital to see the conditions there first hand.
“I will be raising the conditions at St Luke’s at the next forum meeting. What I went through was both degrading and humilitating.
“Furthermore there are not enough nursing staff out there and the nurses that are their are literally running off their feet. It is very chaotic,” he added.
High number of patients remain on trolleys at St Luke’s Hospital which currently remains closed to visitors due to the high incidence of the flu virus.
For more on the ongoing situation see page 13.