Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Beaumont hospital, which is located in my constituency of Dublin North Central, faces a serious crisis. The Minister needs to wake up and face the reality because many families of patients have the impression that he does not understand what is happening on the ground. One nurse who worked in one of the wards expressed disgust that people were being left on trolleys for 70 hours and that 20 patients were waiting on chairs. Beaumont can only accommodate 26 extra patients on trolleys and the rest have to go on chairs. In recent weeks, there were 49 more patients than beds. Nationally, in the region of 300 patients are on trolleys. This is a national emergency. Beaumont hospital had to go off call during the week because it could not deal with the crisis. In 2007, the former Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, was prancing around the Dáil on this issue as Opposition spokesperson on health. The silence on that side of the House has since become deafening, however. Approximately 100 beds in the hospital are occupied by patients who should be accommodated in nursing homes or other long-term care. This is part of the solution. We need to fund these packages and nursing home places if we do not want to leave more senior citizens and ill people on chairs and trolleys. That is not acceptable in 2014.

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