Hospital boss, Ronan O’Hare
Staff at SWAH have been gearing up all year for the busy winter period and its increased ailments, particularly amongst children and the elderly.
As he prepares for another busy Christmas on call, Dr Ronan O’Hare says the focus over recent months has been on managing human resources with patient demand when there are increased admissions at this time of year.
“The biggest change we face over Christmas is the increase in the number of emergency admissions. Alongside this is a build-up of pressure in the system to get patients discharged while the acuity of illness increases.
“The hospital remains open 24/7 but in terms of staffing we also depend on community services, social workers and nursing home staff who also ramp up their activity to meet patient demand.”
The Western Trust’s ‘Stay Well this Winter’ campaign allows patients who may not need to visit A&E to choose the right service. Dr O’Hare says it’s vital people remember, particularly at this time of year, that a hospital is real emergency department for real emergencies.
“General Practice, GP out of hours and community pharmacists all have huge roles to play in the diagnosis of illnesses.
“Those are the three ports of call before you should attend the emergency department. When the ED gets overwhelmed we respond accordingly but the increased length of wait over the festive period will increase. People will face a longer wait for a treatment that may be available elsewhere.”
Over Christmas, the hospital experiences a surge in alcohol related illnesses, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights.
“Whether people have alcohol consumed or not, they should all be treated the same and the hospital system doesn’t differentiate,” Dr O’Hare adds.
“They are treated the same as all other patients but it prolongs an already busy situation. The advice is that anything you can do to avoid ending up in hospital, do it.
Everybody has the right to enjoy themselves over Christmas but don’t let it get out of hand,” he advises.
In any caring profession, it’s ingrained in staff like Dr O’Hare, a married father-of-four, that he will be working over Christmas.
“While there is a downturn in a lot of specialities within the hospital unfortunately doctors and nurses do have to work, either being on call at all times or residing in hospital. It’s a huge commitment for those who can’t spend Christmas with their families and you can be extremely busy, particularly on Boxing Day.
“There have been some horrendous Christmases on call but one of the worst was in 2000 when there was an outbreak of meningitis in the Children’s Ward. I didn’t stop moving for 36 hours.
“Normally I will be with the family on Christmas morning and then go to work and do the ward rounds for a few hours before I go back home. The difficulty is that you can be called back into hospital at any time for an emergency. It’s not uncommon to be in all night and back into work the next day too.
“You just have to compensate and pitch in at this time of year so that everyone can have some time at home with their families. It would be an unwritten rule that you wouldn’t take annual leave at Christmas and be able to participate in staff rotas.”
For those spending Christmas in hospital, Dr O’Hare says staff go out of their way to be make it as special as possible.
“Society has changed and there are a lot of elderly patients who don’t have relatives nearby and find themselves in hospital. All of the staff make things as festive as possible – the wards are decorated, patients get Christmas dinner and staff dress up.”
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Posted: 8:21 am December 25, 2016