Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity of raising this most important issue and I thank the Minister for Health for being present for this Topical Issue matter.

Fast and effective action is needed to address the ongoing hospital crisis as a matter of urgency. There is a serious problem with overcrowding and patients waiting on trolleys in accident and emergency departments throughout the country. In particular, I refer to Beaumont Hospital, as it is in my constituency of Dublin Bay North, which I visited recently. I am appalled at reports that terminally ill patients have been left on trolleys. It is shocking to think that people are being subjected to this treatment.

The situation in the accident and emergency departments is not fair, but it is also not fair on the medical staff who must work extremely hard in a pressurised environment, day in, day out. They should be commended on the brilliant work that they continue to do under such difficult circumstances. The overcrowding at Beaumont Hospital has become so bad that the nurses have voted in favour of industrial action on 27 January. They are clearly concerned about the situation - the excessive workloads and the conditions in which they must work every day. As the Minister will be aware, nurses held a protest today outside the Dáil to voice their concerns, one which I supported. Nurses are running from patient to patient in hospitals. They do not have time to take the patient's name and they are concerned about the Minister's recent comments that nurses need to work even harder. With such comments, they wonder what world he is living in.

The solutions to deal with the accident and emergency crisis include the need to open additional beds as soon as possible to address the crisis temporarily, but it is more recruitment in the nursing profession and permanent positions rather than temporary contracts that are needed. We need to get some of the medical staff who are abroad back into the country as well as being a lot more efficient regarding discharging patients from hospitals, dealing with home care packages and the fair deal scheme.

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