Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

In the context of the 48% who are not admitted within six hours, it may well be, as the Minister said, that there are people on trolleys in A&E departments around the world. However there is a big difference between being on a trolley in a cubicle in an A&E unit, and being on a trolley out in a public space in the way of nurses who are trying to do their work. There is, for example, no privacy if an elderly man or woman has to use a bed-pan. Let us look at the situation honestly. If one is in a crowded A&E unit with nowhere to go for six hours or more, surely that is very different from the rosy picture the Minister paints of people waiting on trolleys in A&E units around the world. They may do so and it is fine if they are in a cubicle. There are a certain number of cubicles in our A&E departments, but we are concerned about those who are out in public spaces literally blocking corridors. I wish the Minister would realise the seriousness of this problem for people who have to endure it.

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