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The HSE executive director has criticized Dublin’s Beacon private hospital for not offering beds, despite the “extremely reduced” capacity across the country during “the biggest health crisis in the state’s history.”
However, the hospital has said that it is already “doing everything possible to support the public system.”
Paul Reid, who was speaking to Katie Hannon on RTÉ Radio One, criticized Beacon’s management for not signing an agreement to allow the HSE to use beds in private hospitals to deal with the current Covid-19 crisis.
“I have to express my extreme frustration that the Beacon did not adhere to that agreement. We have our public health system facing the biggest crisis, probably, in the history of the state for our health services.
“We have a fantastic team of people in all of our hospitals, including private ones, who work tirelessly. But we are running to save people’s lives here. It is beyond frustration for me, and beyond belief and understanding, and I would be urging the board to adhere to the safety net agreement. ”
Beacon management said in response that a vaccination center was offered to HSE healthcare workers free of charge as a gesture of goodwill.
“While engagement is ongoing with HSE regarding a new centralized agreement, Beacon Hospital is of the opinion that it can treat more public and private patients through its existing agreements, rather than through a new additional agreement.” .
Mr Reid said that Ireland’s health system has formally entered scalability, with the reduction of intensive care beds.
“It is extremely tight. In terms of available beds … we have increased it to around 313 … we have 28 beds available for adults and 12 for children at the moment. It’s getting really tight. ”
There are about 480 general beds available across the system, he added.
As for intensive care patients, there are about 250 others who were on the edge or in the so-called “amber zone,” he said.
“There are still about 250 people who are not in the ICU, but who would receive that kind of intensive support, particularly in terms of oxygen and sometimes high-flow oxygen supports,” Reid said.
As for mass vaccinations, he said he was “not happy at all” with Pfizer’s initial announcement of a temporary halt to deliveries, but added that once the situation clears up, it would mean a delay of about a week in calendar.
“Fortunately… it won’t have the initially projected impact. We wait a week with a shorter supply, but then we will return to committed supply and in mid-February we will get additional supplies. ”
A quarter of nursing homes across the country have had outbreaks, making vaccination key, he said.
About 8,000 residents and staff have received their first dose so far, with two weeks until 100% complete.
“However, our program for nursing homes now accelerates between this week and the next. In mid-February, they will have received their second vaccination. That is why it is a priority.
“Our plan primarily for next week was nursing homes, that was the main focus, and it was the following week that we would go back to working with primary care workers in acute illness settings and in the community. The plan continues as projected next week.
“Obviously we will have to recalibrate based on one week less supply … but in essence, we will have made the private nursing homes and that will be completed without impact, it will only mean a lower volume for health workers for that week. But we are in a better place than we thought yesterday afternoon. “
Beacon Hospital has said in a statement that it has not signed an additional centralized agreement because it is unwilling to hand over clinical governance to the HSE.
“The latest HSE Agreement, which Beacon Hospital signed from April to June last year, allowing HSE to take clinical control, led to the hospital being 70% empty for three months,” the statement read.
“Since Beacon Hospital is now at full capacity, treating public and private patients, we cannot risk allowing the direct clinical governance of HSE to lead to underutilization.”
The hospital added that it “is already wearing the green jersey,” and said that it is “currently treating more public patients than the HSE agreement anticipates or calls for and has been doing so for more than four months.”
The statement adds: “Beacon Hospital is treating more public patients than any of the other 17 private hospitals.
“Public patients currently occupy more than 55% of our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and approximately between 15% and 20% of all surgeries in the last four months have been performed on behalf of public hospitals such as Mater Public , St James’ Hospital, Tallaght, Children’s Health Ireland (Crumlin), Tullamore and University Hospital Limerick under existing agreements. ”
He concluded: “Beacon Hospital remains committed to doing everything possible to support the public system and the country during this time of crisis and is preparing to receive more public patients in the days and weeks ahead.
“It has also made a vaccination center available to HSE this week and has vaccinated more than 1,000 HSE frontline workers to date.”
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