Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I had an experience in an accident and emergency department in County Waterford a number of years ago, where I was on a trolley while tests were done. I am not aware of a hospital anywhere in the world where trolleys are not used if the staff are doing blood tests or other tests.

The issue is how long people are waiting before they are either discharged or admitted. A number of years ago, we did not measure that. The issue is not whether it is 200, 300 or 500 patients; it is how long any individual patient is waiting. Last year, only 40% of patients who were being admitted were admitted within the six hours. This has now increased to 52%. I accept there are still 48% who are not admitted in that six-hour period, which is unsatisfactory. However, we never measured against a six-hour target until recently and, from the end of March of this year, hospitals will have to measure from the time patients arrive.

If somebody was waiting six days, I would like to get the details of the individual case. That is totally unsatisfactory. If the Deputy would give me the details, I would like to pursue the matter.

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