A FORMER clinical director at University Hospital Waterford has described the current high number of Covid hospitalisations at UHW - and the recent high number of deaths there - as "traumatic" on all involved.
Rob Landers, who is a surgical pathologist, says the hospital is "under severe pressure" dealing with the high numbers and the fact that lots of staff are out sick is "putting us under more pressure".
"It's been a very bruising month for the hospital," he told Damien Tiernan on Deise Today.
"We have over 100 inpatients in hospital with Covid, eight are in critical care. We have 60 patients on some form of intense oxygen support. We have had a lot of deaths in the hospital and behind every one of them is a family and a life story and it's hugely traumatic on all involved," he said.
On the issue of mortuary capacity at UHW - which was a serious matter for concern in the past - he said they were "coping".
He said in March last year, temporary extra refridgeration capacity was put in place which didn't have to be used until this month - but is now in use.
"It gives the scale of the deaths that are happening," Rob Landers said, adding that every hospital in the country is dealing with a higher death rate and he did want to say that Waterford was no worse than elsewhere in than sense.
Paying tribute to staff at UHW, he said their work is "harrowing" at the moment but they are performing really superbly and deserve great credit.
Rob Landers also spoke on Deise Today this morning on the current issues surrounding the new Technological University of the South East and the controversial debate on where a new headquarters may be.
He said "grave mistakes" had been made in health in the past for political reasons and he did not want to see the same thing happen here with education. He said it would be "almost incredible" if a university was established and there was no headquarters in Waterford.
"Decisions are being made for political reasons and politicians outside of Waterford are just not interested in here. If they were, we'd have 24/7 cardiology services here years ago," he told Damien Tiernan.
The former UHW clinical director also said we need a "university of substance" in this region and not just a "re-branding". The TUSEI needed to be on a par with other universities in other cities and it needed to be funded to that end.
"We're not fools down here and sometimes the people of Waterford are played for fools," Rob Landers said, adding his belief that the entire headquarters issue could be sorted "with a stroke of a pen today" by either the Taoiseach of Taniste if the political will was there.
People in Waterford were tired of "vague" and "empty promises".
You can listen back to Rob Landers' interview this morning by clicking below here...
Meanwhile, you can listen back to the full Deise Today from this morning by clicking below here...
