Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

Approximately three weeks ago, on 25 March, I raised with the Taoiseach the absolutely unacceptable number of patients on trolleys and chairs in the accident and emergency department in South Tipperary General Hospital. I described the conditions on that day as reminiscent of those in the Third World. I make no apology for this. Three weeks later, nothing has been done, despite requests from hospital staff and management and the HSE south east management. Today, there is a full-blown crisis in the accident and emergency department. The emergency requires emergency action from the Taoiseach. There were 29 patients on trolleys in the hospital this morning. They are in the accident and emergency department, the corridors of the department, the corridors of the rest of the hospital and along the main public thoroughfare of the hospital. An individual sent me a photograph of a relative who is recovering from a subarachnoid haemorrhage but who is on a trolley in the main public thoroughfare of the hospital, up against a bank of vending machines. Patients have absolutely no privacy. The bathroom and toilet facilities for patients are either totally inadequate or non-existent. This is absolutely unacceptable and outrageous.

The number of patients on trolleys in the hospital increased from 750 in 2011, when the current Government came to power, to 3,100 in 2013. The hospital budget has been cut by €11 million, or nearly 25%, and more than 100 staff have been lost. The hospital is now working at 120% capacity every day of the year. Hospital staff simply cannot cope and, despite their working above and beyond the call of duty, they are struggling to provide a safe service.

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