Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

In three and a quarter minutes, it is very hard to make a major contribution to the debate, but I will mention a few points.

As someone who has worked in the accident and emergency department of Mayo General Hospital and in University College Hospital Galway, as well as having seen matters from the perspective of a GP over many years, I agree that it is a problem with many different causes. After our press conference, in which we outlined the case of a patient who died after having waited ten days to get into UCHG, the Tánaiste declared the accident and emergency situation a national emergency. However, it is not simply an accident and emergency crisis but one of the health service as a whole.

The man in question, who was in his mid-70s, died waiting for a bed that was simply not there for him. In a Republic where the citizen is king, we let him down. He was born around 1916 into a country where there was very little. However, in this day and age, when we are supposed to be so rich, he died waiting for a bed.

Whether it is admitted, beds are a major part of the problem. It is a matter of simple mathematics that if an accident and emergency department is the portal of entry, once people are deemed in need of admission, they have no place to go. Two days before the man died, 12 people were waiting on trolleys in Mayo General Hospital and 20 at University College Hospital Galway. Before he could be admitted to a bed in UCHG, those 20 people would have had to be cleared from the trolleys.

It is not acceptable that this situation should continue. The neurosurgeons have said that they will all resign because of this. Hundreds are waiting for such services. I know that neurosurgeons have approximately 55 beds, with some for intensive care. That is very little for a country with such great needs. People are in acute hospitals who would not be there if there were adequate beds in neurosurgery, for example. Another example is the National Rehabilitation Centre, which has 200 people waiting for beds. There are 150 beds, 25 of which are for road traffic accident victims. People are occupying beds right across the board that they should not be occupying were there enough beds elsewhere.

I could continue, but my time is up. I have only begun to speak, and there are many other things that I could say, but beds are a very important part of the equation. We must ensure that numbers attending are reduced, but that cannot happen without investment in general practice. Some €1.3 billion has been promised, only approximately €14 million of which has gone into services to date. That tells its own story.

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