Standard of Portlaoise Hospital Care

heathcliff

Posted recently about this because my brother and wife were having a baby in Portlaoise Hospital. I felt that the care they received there was very poor and caused many hours of stress. My nephew is now back in hospital just under two weeks as an patient for the last two days. Brought him back a couple of days before this because of worries over his breathing, the care he got for that was a diagnosis of a "virus" and sent home with a prescription that is not in the market any more!!!!, he ended up back in hospital two days later this time diagnosed with bronchitis...When my brother heard this he demanded to see his son's notes from when he was born. The reason he wanted to see them was because they did a blood test on him to make sure that he lungs were okay on the last day he was in hospital, they were told the tests would be back in the afternoon, they were discharged that morning!!! They can't find his notes, he has different nurses coming in not know what the one previous has done. The doctor will say one thing to him and when questioning the nurse later about this, my son is the first one to tell her because there is no mention of it in the notes!!!! My brother had to go to the stock room yesterday and get a bottle of cleaning product to prove his point to "educated" people that the weighing scales that they wanted to use to weigh his son was broken... The reason they wanted him weighed was to determine the dosage he was to be put on...Right, I am going to stop ranting now because I am just dumbfounded that no one has had any bad experiences with the standard in our hospitals!!!!!!!:eek: I have to say that I my children were born in this hospital over 12years ago and I had a reasonable level of care!!! However my son was an inpatient a few years ago and noticed then the level was poor ( I thought that it was just the pead ward)...
Is this just me because I am sick of people praising the nurses and doctors in one blanket statement ( NOT ALL HEALTH CARE STAFF ARE MARVELLOUS )
I know there is some good people working there, maybe my tolerance level of having of deal with people not doing there job( in any work area) has reached boiling point!!!!!!!!!!:mad:

madred006

Have to say that I agree totally with your post ,in my opinion the majority of staff do not seem to care what is going on around them .I had the misfortune of been there twice in the not so distant past and it was mind boggling to observe the state that it is in .Some attendants stroll out at lunch time to the smoking area no use of sterilisers and back in without using it while there are signs everywhere urging vigilance against swine flu .My wife was treated for over 2 years there for a hernia and they decided to operate and repair same ,after the operation i was called and told it was a success ,next morning they told her that it wasnt a hernia and that the scan results were wrong she is now waiting to see a dr. in Holles street BECAUSE THEIR DELAY IN MISTREATING HER means they are not equipped to treat her correctly ,there are better vet hospitals .

heathcliff

Glad to see that some one out there agrees with me!!!!! I have heard so many horror stories about the level of care that is provided in this hospital that I am amazed that no one else has put a post up here before??? What I can say is that I am SO glad that I have good health because you are not certain of that after a trip to them... All I can say to people using this "Service" is that you should question everything that is done in relation to your care!!! I say this after a "DOCTOR" removed a syringe from STERILE packaging, put the medicine into to it and then proceeded to rub the needle between his fingers (no gloves on!!!!:eek:) and then went to put that INTO my child's arm!!!!! As you might guess the doctor was told to put the syringe in the bin, wash his hands and get some gloves!!!! The worst part of this is that he looked shocked that (a) anything was said to him and (b) that he was doing anything wrong!!!!

paperclip2

Both my parents are in and out of Portlaoise hospital with various complaints and most of the time the care is good but there have been one or two major whoppers:
About seven years ago my dad was sent in with stomach pains. Was told it was indigestion and constipation and sent home. Next day his doc sent him back over. Hours of waiting in crippling pain. They again wanted to send him home with laxatives. Eventually another doctor sent him for a scan and they found he had a perforated bowel. Emergency op and 17 feet of small intestine removed. If he'd lost another six inches he would have needed a colostomy bag.

Five years ago my dad was in again with breathing problems. He has quite bad asthma so they changed his medication and sent him home. Two days later he's sent back in. They stabilise him and send him home. Next day he's sent back over by his own doctor. A& E tell him that his breathing difficulties are psychosomatic and to more or less go home and stop annoying them. My mother creates a scene and they eventually take blood and do another couple of tests. Result: Dad has pneumonia and ends up being hospitalised for a month.

These are two episodes out of literally the dozens of times they have been in and as I said on the whole they are happy enough with the standard of care. But I do think you need to be vigilant as a patient or patients family and take nothing for granted.

Kayagric

My daughter is presently in Portlaoise hospital. She was admitted as an urgent case around 2.00pm yesterday. Her history began on Sunday at 4.00am with severe abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting. As she is lactose intolerant she assumed she had eaten something with lactose and suffered all day Sunday. On Monday she was still no better but still believed it was her lactose intolerance as this usually lasts about three days. Finally on Wednesday she went to the doctor and was sent directly to Portlaoise hospital where she was admitted immediately and told she would be operated on either before ten last night or first thing this morning. As a result no one went to visit her as we thoUght she had been operated on. She contacted us at 6 this evening to tell us she was still not done but was waiting to go. (She hasn't eaten since Sunday). At 8.30 she still hadn't been operated on. I phoned the hospital as her next Of kin and asked if she wasn't GoiNg to be operated on tonight to let me know and I would contact another hospital and ask them to do it. She then phoned me and said she was next on the list and she would send me a txt when she was going to theatre. It is now 10pm and we have still heard nothing. Too many emergency sections and other operations to do so they are treating her last. There was a baby death at portlaoise last year in our family so I can understand the urgency of sections. However, one can't help wondering are portlaoise so terrified over the maternity Investigation that they may be putting other patients at risk. Any views?

Kayagric

The update is that they operated ten minutes after I wrote the last post and apparently hours after her Appendix burst. She now has bowel and liver infections. The excuse seems to be that she looked deceiving because she smiled at them when she spoke to them so she must have a high pain threshold. Obviously they are using your looks and manner instead of their medical training to diagnose

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Kayagric

Can't blame anyone. Daughter was being released by a doctor this morning. She mentioned that the consultAnt said she was to be on intravenous antibiotics until Monday or Tuesday....THEN he read her chart and agreed!!!

Claude Burgundy

3 children born in Portlaoise and can't say one word against the staff or level of care. Add to that one week in peeds with our daughter and the level of care was amazing.

Mad4simmental

Report anything that needs reporting. I know of allot of bad story's from Portlaoise and will only go to kk now. Sum thing very wrong going on in that hospital.

Dozen Wicked Words

Not sure what this type of thread ever does apart from scaremonger. It's much less likely that people will post glowing tributes about uneventful episode in hospital than when things go wrong. (I know someone in this thread has which is nice) By its nature, a hospital gets people at their worst and this doesn't encourage fond memories. Never been to, or worked in Portlaoise but I'd hazard a guess and say it suffers the same frailties as other hospitals near by. I'm sure Naas, St. Lukes and the rest all have the same horror stories, or worse.

eddie.g

After the prime time show I thought this hospital would have got their act together. Is it both the maternity hospital and the general hospital are as bad as each other. Or has the maternity part sorted itself out after the show. Is the coombe hospital not overseeing the maternity part

rubys susan

I think this a beautiful hospital. I gave me fantastic care.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Mam of 4

We had a family member who was admitted to hospital every couple of months for nearly four years prior to their death. I can honestly say that the standard of care and attention they received was second to none right across the board.

Anything that possibly could have been done, WAS done,from medical,surgical,icu and coronary care.

It saddens me that some people haven't had the same experience tbh.

Kayagric

I personally have had a mix. Two children born and care was excellent. However when I was having a miscarriage I told them I was haemorrhaging at 2pm. I was told it was my imagination and everything was normal. (This without any examination) At 8pm I called a doctor and pointed out the state of the bed and was told she would be back. At 9 pm a friend Helped me to the bathroom. Finally at 9.30 I collapsed on the floor. First question to me "why did you not say something?". After being put on a drip for about 3 hours I refused any more treatment and signed myself out.

javagal

I'm one of the patients whose case is being investigated in Portlaoise after I had my daughter there 2 years ago.
It was bad enough that I didn't have to report it myself, it was reported for me. The consultant I was under was so unprofessional and did everything wrong, I stopped breathing and ended up in ICU. The midwife who reported it called my case "barbaric" and said she was sure I was going to die.

On the other hand, as much as that consultant was inadequate(I happen to know she no longer works there btw), the midwives were for the most part, were fantastic.

Hesh's Umpire

I've nothing but good to say about Portlaoise hospital.

Been a while (and hopefully remains so) since I've been in, but both my wife and her mother have had excellent care there on quite a few occasions over the last 6/7 years.

And, as someone else said, it's sad to hear that not everyone seems to have had the same experience.

The Princess Bride

As a former nurse, I could write a book on the flaws within different hospitals in Ireland.
I have no direct experience with Portlaoise Hospital, but I've heard some horrific stories and have seen, firsthand, some stupid mistakes having to be urgently rectified and patients needing to be transferred to the Dublin hospitals where I previously worked.
But.
I could say the same about many other hospitals.

My advice?
Ask questions of everything and everyone you deal with-document everything.
If you don't, then you'll have no comeback.

MaryDublin

Having worked in hospitals in Dublin (public and private) and then in Portlaoise Hospital I have to say that every hospital i've worked in and been a patient in has it's problems with staff, facilities and hygiene.
Portlaoise is certainly no worse than others and i've worked in a few.
I'm sorry to anyone who has experienced less than acceptable care and for those who have lost loved ones to this.

The healthcare system is a bloody joke because it's underfunded. It's all very well and good having bodies like HIQUA doing reviews and so on but there is no money to resolve the issues brought to attention. One public hospital I worked in had all admin in portacabins with leaking roofs, broken heating, if you needed a pen you had to ask the manager for one as stationary was not readily accessible to admin staff due to every penny being counted.....small things but a sign of how bad the public side is. The private side was a bit better.

Doctors and nurses work long hours for terrible pay in horrible conditions, are exhausted with long hours and huge workloads. No excuse I know but perhaps they need to be treated better to treat patients better? Good intentions will only get you so far and even the best doctors and nurses get run down by how they're made to work; that's why a massive amount emigrate to countries with better working conditions and healthcare like Canada and Australia. I've had 12 friends (doctors and psych nurses) emigrate in less than 10 months.

We are being f**ked over for basics in this country and it's never going to stop.

I had a point but it's gone awol now so i'll shut up.

JediGirl

I have a mix of experiences with the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.
I had two miscarriages, both of them treated there.
The first one was treated fairly well, I was given an injection to cause contractions so that my body would clean itself which worked very well.
The midwives were really great and very very helpful.
I even got a private room so that I was able to sleep whenever I wanted and cry whenever I felt like it.

However, I am really disappointed from a medical perspective about the care I was given the second time I miscarried. I reported to the ER with heavy bleeding and it took almost two hours for the doctor to see me. I was scanned and taken to the ward, no injection to cause contractions was given to me.
I have to point out that once again I was given a private en suite room, very comfortable, my husband was allowed to stay with me. The midwives again were great.
The next morning I was discharged home with NO FURTHER SCANS TAKEN or without making sure that the product had passed. I only passed the product the next day, which meant that should my body not have had the ability to clean itself, I would probably end up with an infection or even die from SEPSA at a later stage.
I am hugely disappointed and I am sure I will not be coming back there with any health problems I might have.

_Kaiser_

JediGirl wrote: »

I have a mix of experiences with the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.
I had two miscarriages, both of them treated there.
The first one was treated fairly well, I was given an injection to cause contractions so that my body would clean itself which worked very well.
The midwives were really great and very very helpful.
I even got a private room so that I was able to sleep whenever I wanted and cry whenever I felt like it.

However, I am really disappointed from a medical perspective about the care I was given the second time I miscarried. I reported to the ER with heavy bleeding and it took almost two hours for the doctor to see me. I was scanned and taken to the ward, no injection to cause contractions was given to me.
I have to point out that once again I was given a private en suite room, very comfortable, my husband was allowed to stay with me. The midwives again were great.
The next morning I was discharged home with NO FURTHER SCANS TAKEN or without making sure that the product had passed. I only passed the product the next day, which meant that should my body not have had the ability to clean itself, I would probably end up with an infection or even die from SEPSA at a later stage.
I am hugely disappointed and I am sure I will not be coming back there with any health problems I might have.

First off.. sorry for your losses. Very sad to read that.

Did you ask them about the injection the second time? What did they say?

I was in there last year a few times (mostly because of problems finding a local GP and the only one I COULD find being more interested in what general tests he could charge me for than examining me for what I came into him for), and aside from the nationwide A&E overcrowding, delays, and trolley issues, I found the nursing staff very good and sympathetic.

The doctors were a bit more variable (took 3 of them before they identified the issue), and the second guy in particular needs a bit more "bedside manner and customer service training", but overall given the workload it was about what I expected.

JediGirl

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

First off.. sorry for your losses. Very sad to read that.

Did you ask them about the injection the second time? What did they say?

I was in there last year a few times (mostly because of problems finding a local GP and the only one I COULD find being more interested in what general tests he could charge me for than examining me for what I came into him for), and aside from the nationwide A&E overcrowding, delays, and trolley issues, I found the nursing staff very good and sympathetic.

The doctors were a bit more variable (took 3 of them before they identified the issue), and the second guy in particular needs a bit more "bedside manner and customer service training", but overall given the workload it was about what I expected.

Kaiser, thank you.
I did not ask for the injection, I told the doctor that I was given one the last time, she acknowledged that but said nothing about giving it to me this time. I was given a painkiller at night and I remember the nurse talking something about a muscle relaxant but I can't remember the name of the substance. I was shocked and devastated and it didn't come to my mind to ask for the injection.
I am also surprised that the doctor who was letting me go home (different to the one examining me the night before) did not want to double check if for sure everything was all right.

Anyway, hope next year is going to be better. And for sure should I need care, I will stay as far from Portlaoise as I can.

Happy New Year to you.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Have always received great care in Portlaoise. From minor injuries right up to being admitted.