Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I thank Deputy Ryan for sharing time.

I want to concentrate on one issue that arises from the consequence of the lack of suitable and affordable care for elderly people, either at home or in nursing homes. The Minister will be aware of the Pollack report on cystic fibrosis, which was published recently. It was quite damning of the services and facilities that are provided for such patients. In particular, I would like to refer to a letter sent to me by a young man named Simon. He is 23 years old and he refers in his letter to Saint Vincent's hospital:

The ward which has been allocated to us is now being used for older men and women who are awaiting beds in old folks' homes and hospitals. Because of this, cystic fibrosis patients are suffering as we cannot get beds. At the moment, there are three six bed rooms for women and one six bed and one three bed room for men. Of these 27 beds, the majority are taken up by older men and women who do not suffer with cystic fibrosis, which is a life threatening illness. Some of these older patients can be on this ward for up to one year. Complaints have been made to our specialist team and we are told it is down to bed management and overcrowding at the hospitals, yet no one seems to be doing anything to alleviate this hardship being placed on cystic fibrosis patients. This problem has been going on for years at this hospital.

He goes on to refer to another ward, which he names:

I could not open a window due to the fact that I was put in with five elderly male patients and the heat was suffocating. This does not help me as a sufferer with an illness which is life threatening.

I quoted specifically from this letter because it refers to the fact that acute beds are being allocated, of necessity, to older people who should be in another environment, either at home, in the community or in a suitable nursing home. It is not fair either to those older people, who should be in a different environment. It is certainly not fair to the medical and nursing staff in that ward who are stretched to the absolute limit to deliver a quality service to all of the patients with very different needs. Most definitely, it is wrong that young patients suffering with cystic fibrosis are compromised and are susceptible to cross infections. Their lives are literally being put at risk due in part to being placed in inappropriate wards. This is because beds are taken up by older people who should be in a completely different environment.

In that hospital, a new wing has been built. I do not know the purpose of that new wing but it has been vacant for months and probably longer than that. Why is that part of the hospital unoccupied? If it were made available, there could be some rearrangement, relocation and alternative management that would allow a structure to be put in place to alleviate the situation. Older people could be moved to a different environment and beds freed up for acute patients which are urgently needed. It is not the fault of the elderly patients that they are taking up beds in these acute wards. The facilities available are so inappropriate and so undersubscribed for keeping people in the community and in their own homes that it is impossible for families to manage that. It is impossible for many elderly people to deal with the bureaucracy that surrounds accessing those facilities. While it is good that this issue is raised in the Bill, the Tánaiste should look very carefully at those facilities provided in the community, or the lack of them. There is a lack of home help and a shortage of grants for disabled persons and elderly people to allow them live in comfort in their own homes. This could free up facilities that should be available for acute patients.

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