Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. It was a combination of things. In some of the emergency department wards there were long corridors where patients were on trolleys, where they are not meant to be. These are meant to be corridors for people to walk or transit through. I have seen cases, and the HIQA reports point this out regularly, where patients are being denied the dignity they need. I have seen patients waiting on trolleys, particularly people who might have certain injuries or older people - people who are more vulnerable. They are in a compromised state. There in a state where they must be afforded dignity and privacy. In some of our hospitals, particularly, for example, during the January surge, I saw elderly patients in situations where they needed their own bay and needed privacy but they could not get it. I thank the Deputy for his point. This is not the fault of the healthcare professionals providing the care. Healthcare professionals are under intense pressure. There is a human dignity aspect to it and there is a comfort aspect to it. There is also more than that. Dr. Henry can speak to this far better than I ever can-----