Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I came in here with the hope of learning something about the actions the Minister proposes to take to address some of the concerns highlighted in the HIQA report on the University Hospital in Limerick. The HIQA report, whether the Minister likes it or not, is damning, with its references to "persistent overcrowding" and its use of terms like "unacceptable" and "not fit for purpose". Page 74 of the report lists 11 risk issues requiring action, nine of which are deemed to be high risk. There are risks to patients and that has to be accepted. There is no point in us pretending that this report is doing anything other than highlighting the deficiencies and inadequacies in the emergency department in Limerick. It is also highlighting deficiencies within the overall health system. The report makes reference to the absence of clear interim advice and direction from the Department of Health and the HSE with regard to integrated governance arrangements between voluntary and public services in the context of emerging hospital groups and single boards. That is a criticism of the Department and of the Minister. It is an observation that there is an absence of clear interim advice which is code for saying the Department and the Minister are not quite sure what they are doing. That is what this particular report states.

The Minister has come in here and promised to look at model three hospitals in order to address some of the concerns in the midlands but I do not believe that will happen. The reason for my disbelief is clear to see. One only has to look to Roscommon or the north east and the promises that were made on a new hospital instead of the ones at Navan and Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda. These commitments were made and they are far from being carried through. In fact, the reverse has been the case in Roscommon and in the north east.

The bottom line is that there is a massive difficulty in emergency departments throughout the country. As recently as this morning Dr. Chris Luke, in an article in The Daily Mail, said that in the last week he has seen just one or two non-consultant hospital doctors trying to run the emergency department. He described this as stressful, not to mention difficult and dangerous. We have a deficiency of staff in our emergency departments and we are facing a turnover of non-consultant hospital doctors very soon. That will happen in July and I can guarantee it will create huge difficulties in our emergency departments this year. The lack of consultants will be compounded by the non-consultant hospital doctor changeover and the difficulties in recruiting doctors for the areas in which they are needed most. The Minister and I both know that this will happen. It is an ongoing problem.

The Minister has suggested that there are some issues in this report that we can address and that dealing with delays in emergency departments will address all of the concerns raised but that is not the case. There are many inherent problems in our emergency departments throughout the country. The trick has been to use the trolley count as a measure of success versus failure, with the Minister saying that there were 550 people on trolleys in 2011 but now the figure is 300, which indicates success and that we are going in the right direction. The problem is that we are not going in the right direction. We still have inherent problems in our emergency departments throughout the country.

Deputy McNamara just raised the case of a woman with a broken hip waiting for treatment for four days. The Minister is right in saying that there may have been clinical reasons for the wait but I can give the Minister countless examples of people who have waiting in emergency departments for hours on end. I will give the Minister a concrete example of some of the difficulties faced by people in our emergency departments when I respond to his reply.

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