A PATIENT of the Medical Day Care Unit has said she was left feeling ‘scared and alone’ after a lack of capacity at the Hospital meant she had to go without her weekly infusion.
Evelyn Oeillet, who suffers from multiple health problems including malabsorption and dehydration, claimed her regular appointment – which involves being given a dose of magnesium and potassium – could not take place because the MDU was ‘turfed out of Corbière Ward’ following an influx of patients.
Health and Community services have confirmed the unit ‘has had to move several times’ in the past couple of weeks due to a need to increase the number of beds available for emergency admissions.
‘I got a phone call to say that they’d had a really dire week and had nowhere to accommodate the patients,’ the 51-year-old said, explaining that her condition had worsened as a result – with symptoms including fatigue, weight loss and fainting.
‘I feel scared and alone – it’s horrible. I’m even scared to go to the shop in case I faint,’ she added.
An HCS spokesperson said: ‘Our Medical Day Care Unit, which is based on Corbière Ward, has had to move location due to the need to increase our medical bed base for emergency admissions. Corbière Ward does already provide treatment for both inpatients and outpatients.
‘HCS has taken this action, due to a large number of patients who are medically fit to be discharged but who are not able to be discharged to places for ongoing care, which subsequently allows us to use the space that the MDU was occupying and then convert this back to inpatient beds.’
They added: ‘Unfortunately, in the past couple of weeks, due to a lack of capacity throughout the Hospital, the MDU has had to move several times.
‘We apologise to the patients who have been affected due to this situation, which is beyond our control.
‘We will continue to work flexibly within the confines of the current hospital to support as many Islanders as possible.’
Ms Oeillet criticised the department’s management of the situation, describing it as a ‘massive failing’.
‘Something has to be done – not just for myself but for the other patients as well,’ she said.
The HCS spokesperson said that, from yesterday, the MDU would be temporarily based ‘in a separate location within Outpatients’ while a new area was created to act as a long-term solution ‘until the new hospital is ready’.
‘This area, which will be ready in the next eight weeks and [will] be based in Outpatients, will mean that patients who attend the MDU will not need to be displaced in the future if there is a similar demand to the inpatient wards,’ they said.
