David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I must interject. The HIQA inspection happened on a particular day and Professor Cowan's response is about how challenging that particular day was for the hospital, but we know that many days are challenging for UHL. We can see that from the trolley count and the waiting figures.

I will move on to a second finding. The group was non-compliant in terms of planning, organising and managing the workforce to achieve high-quality and safe healthcare. This is a management issue. If the group is lacking resources, that would make compliance more difficult, but planning, organising and managing the workforce rests with management.

The dignity, privacy and autonomy of patients should be promoted, but I heard one elderly lady, whose husband unfortunately passed away in the hospital, speaking on RTÉ about how long he had stayed on a hospital trolley and the lack of dignity. Basic measures should be put in place in any hospital to ensure that there is proper dignity and respect for patients, but the hospital was non-compliant in this regard once again. I will reinforce what "non-compliant" means in terms of the grading system. It means that "the relevant national standard has not been met, and that this deficiency is such that it represents a significant risk to people using the service". The hospital was also non-compliant in its protection of users from risk of harm associated with the design and delivery of healthcare services.

Given that HIQA was clearly pointing to failures in management, planning and delivery, I would hope that the management of the hospital group would at least take some responsibility for some of those failures. I know that there are capacity problems and I am supportive of new capacity being put in place, but people listening in Limerick and the wider mid-west who use these services would like to hear from the management that it accepts some responsibility for some of the failures outlined by HIQA. If the witnesses do not believe that they are responsible for any of these failures, that is their view and they might articulate it. I will give the final word to Professor Cowan because this is important to the people who use the hospital's services.