17-year-old boy turned away from Galway University Hospital-Harkin

A teenager was turned away from Galway University on Tuesday night  as there were no trolleys available, it emerged this week. 

Sligo/Leitrim TD Marian Harkin described as completely unacceptable the turning away of a the boy, who had severed part of his finger in an accident, from GUH as there was no overnight emergency surgery available and, crucially, no trolleys available.

Outlining the case in the Dail, Deputy Harkin explained how, after the accident, the teen was brought to NOWDOC in Carrick-on-Shannon, which was closed. “A sibling drove him to Sligo University Hospital where the hand was bandaged, the severed piece of the finger was put into ice, and they were told to go to Galway University Hospital for treatment. So, they arrived at GUH at about 9:00 o'clock that night having already driven 145km.

“At the Emergency Department they were told there was no one available to treat the child until 7am the next morning and there were no trolleys available. He was in excruciating pain and was told that he could either go home and return at 7am the next morning, or he could get a B&B. The family had to drive back to Carrick-on-Shannon and, as his dad said, “We were on our way home, none the wiser. The lad had half a finger with him, and the other half left in the fridge in Galway hospital.”

“They drove to Carrick-on-Shannon, back to Galway in the morning and home later that day, covering in total almost 500km,” Deputy Harkin continued, “nobody should be told take a B&B or take a round trip of nearly 250km to wait for treatment, but to say that to a child is completely and totally unacceptable and I am calling on the Minister for Health to ensure that this practice will not be repeated.

Responding, Junior Minister Jennifer Carrol MacNeill said that from personal experience, the absence of overnight emergency surgical services is an issue in Dublin hospitals as well as in the West and went on to outline the resources committed by the Department to the Saolta group of hospitals and GUH.

“Minister,” Ms Harkin said, “none of the resources you spoke of mattered to a child who presented at a hospital and was turned away. Anybody under the age of 18, by Irish law and according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, is a child and they should never be turned away. Galway University Hospital is a Level 4 hospital, it is the only one north of a line from Dublin to Galway and it is unacceptable that, at the very least, an injured child could not be accommodated at the hospital until somebody was available to treat his injuries.