Hospital conditions under fire after 30 die of cystic fibrosis
THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has been harshly criticised over conditions in hospitals for people with cystic fibrosis (CF).
Last year, 30 patients with CF died here, the highest death toll from the disease in the past 14 years.
The average life expectancy for someone with CF in Ireland is 21, which falls far short of other countries such as Canada where they can expect to live to 35 on average.
A hospital in Georgia, the former Soviet Republic, has recently opened a specific nine-bed unit for people with CF, while nothing similar exists in Ireland.
About 1,200 people are living with the disease in Ireland at the moment.
There were 16 CF-related deaths in 1994 while in 1999, the second-highest year over the period studied, 26 people died.
Last year represented a huge jump to 30. In 2006, just 14 died.
CEO of the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland Godfrey Fletcher said the organisation was lobbying for single rooms with their own toilet and bathroom which would ensure bugs were not spread.
People with CF are much more prone to infection due to their immune systems being weakened from the condition. As a result, should they get an infection, it is much more serious and in worst-case scenarios may result in death.
Units
The group is looking for 34 of the en suite units to be put in place in St Vincent's hospital and pro rata in other medical institutions.
Callers to yesterday's Liveline show on RTE Radio said conditions in Irish hospitals fell far short of what was needed.
There were repeated calls for more isolation wards for people with CF so that they could avoid catching bugs off other patients.
Those with CF fear catching a bug from other hospital patients when they are admitted, which resulted in two of the callers discharging themselves.
"I found out that the patient beside me and who I was sharing my bathroom with had MRSA so I said that I was going," said a caller called 'Lawrence'.
One woman, 'Monica', lost three children to CF, and all died at a young age. One of her children weighed 8lb when he was six months old.
Another woman, who has lost one child to CF, said her second child with the condition did not want to go to hospital because she did not want to be put in a room with five elderly people.
- Shane Hickey
