Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)

I raise the issue of overcrowding at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. As the Minister of State is aware, the hospital provides an essential service for the people of the north east. As part of the Louth-Meath hospital group, it is also a teaching hospital. It provides acute medical and surgical services, as well as an excellent maternity service, for patients from across counties Louth and Meath and parts of north County Dublin. A wide range of medical services, including cardiology, oncology, geriatrics and palliative care, are provided at the hospital. The main accident and emergency unit for the Louth-Meath hospital group is located at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. It is in operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and supported in providing care for patients from the region by an interim medical assessment unit and short stay unit, both of which are on site, and by minor injuries units at Louth County Hospital, Dundalk and the emergency department of Our Lady's Hospital, Navan.

There has been significant investment at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital since 2007, including in the construction of a new emergency department which opened last year and associated patient accommodation. Despite this investment, the hospital has suffered as a result of tighter funding restrictions owing to the economic crisis. I pay tribute to the hard working staff at the hospital who provide an exceptional service on a continuing basis, for which they must be applauded. I know from first hand accounts that doctors and nurses in the hospital have worked tirelessly to ensure services are maintained with less manpower and no extra money. No hospital across the country has gone unaffected as a result of the financial crisis. Hospitals have been told they must stick to their budgets. There is simply no money left to make up any shortfalls at the end of the year, a practice which led to poor management practices in the past.

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital has certainly not escaped the challenges that have been brought by reduced spending in our health service. According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, there are 36 people on trolleys at the Lourdes hospital today. I am sure the Minister will agree this is a deplorable situation. Patients and staff deserve more.

I know the problem of overcrowding in our hospitals is a complex one which will take time to resolve. However, people need to know that concrete action is being taken. The Minister established the special delivery unit, SDU, earlier this year to address this very problem. I am sure the Minister can understand that people are becoming anxious, as winter approaches, given that they cannot see significant progress to date.

I understand Dr. Martin Connor, as head of the SDU, has been visiting hospitals around the country and looking at the systems in place in a bid to identify how service provision can be made more efficient. Can the Minister of State tell me whether he has submitted a report on Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and, if so, when it can be implemented? Can she give the people who use the Lourdes hospital assurances that the situation will be improved?

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