Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me an opportunity to raise this most important issue for the constituency of Louth and east Meath. Earlier today, there were 32 people on trolleys at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. That figure, which represents an increase of 25 on yesterday's figure, is almost double what it was last Friday. These figures are recorded and monitored by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. No other hospital in the country has as many people on trolleys today as Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. University Hospital Limerick was in second place with 22. Given that there are 210 patients on trolleys across the country as a whole, it is clear that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital accounts for one in seven patients on trolleys. The figures compiled by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation indicate that 1,855 people spent time on trolleys between January and April of this year. This compares to a figure of 1,397 for the same period in 2013.

Last week, this House debated the overcrowding and the cramped conditions at University Hospital Limerick. I am pleased this week to have an opportunity to raise the very serious problems at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. We are continually receiving complaints from our constituents in counties Louth and Meath, and from people further afield, about the serious problems with accident and emergency facilities at the hospital. The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine has mentioned the possibility of accident and emergency department closures this summer, as budgetary measures aimed at making savings in the general health area take effect. The association has warned that accident and emergency units will face a perfect storm if staffing meltdown is accompanied by the possibility of closures. This is extremely serious.

I am glad the Minister for Health is present to respond to what I have to say. He is quite familiar with Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, which is just down the road from his own constituency in Fingal. I am sure a few of his constituents have had cause to use the accident and emergency facilities at the hospital. As he will be aware, the hospital's huge catchment area extends not only across counties Louth and Meath, but also to the north of County Dublin and the south of County Monaghan. Perhaps some people have to come from further afield to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. The reality is that the accident and emergency facilities at the hospital are overcrowded and the level of staff cover is seriously inadequate. I predict that a very serious crisis will arise at the hospital sooner or later when it proves impossible to admit patients to the hospital in emergency situations because an adequate level of staff to cater for their immediate needs is not available.

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is one of the busiest hospitals in the country. While people who ring my constituency office accept that the hospital is fine or excellent when they get into mainstream treatment there, they are concerned that it has become a huge challenge to get through the accident and emergency department. The whole concept of requiring people who are more than 80 years of age to lie on trolleys for ten or 12 hours at a time is simply unacceptable in this day and age. We all accept that savings and curtailments are necessary, but certain areas need to be prioritised in that context. I suggest that the area of accident and emergency should be a clear priority within the health service. People receive excellent care in the mainstream hospital service after they have finally overcome the huge challenge of coming through the accident and emergency unit. As I said earlier, I am pleased that the Minister is here to take this Topical Issue matter because he is quite familiar with the problems at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. I appeal to him to ask the HSE immediately to examine the adequacy of staff cover at the hospital. We know that measures are clearly needed to address this problem immediately.

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