Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge the contribution of front-line medical staff both in and outside our hospitals for the work they have done in the past two weeks and also that which they do on a daily basis. It has been an extremely difficult and challenging time for everybody working in our health service and also for those seeking to access that service, namely, patients.

It is never acceptable to have people waiting on trolleys in corridors or wherever, or sitting in waiting rooms for three or four - not to mention nine - hours. It is especially not acceptable for elderly or very young people to be obliged to wait. Last week, parents with very young infants were obliged to wait to be seen at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. My constituents in Meath East, along with the Minister and I, know this is not acceptable. However, it is not something that just happened in the past few weeks or in recent years. This problem has obtained for some time and it was caused by mismanagement of both the health system and the funding relating thereto over a period of many years by a previous Fianna Fáil Government. Between 2000 and 2004, one of the Ministers in that Government who had responsibility for health spent €14.7 million on reports both identifying the problems that existed and suggesting methods of solving them. However, as the current Minister indicated, we know that none of the reports in question were ever implemented because they were unworkable. Fianna Fáil is now presenting that former Minister as the alternative Taoiseach.

We know that throwing money at the problem is not the only solution. After all, we still had a substandard health system at the height of the boom. The providers of health services need to work together as a team. Change will not happen unless all interested parties, in both the health system and communities, work together. I visited the accident and emergency department of Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, last week, and the staff explained to me how they are managing at present. One of them informed me that they had received a great deal of help from the community. I refer here to simple things such as family members driving loved ones to or picking them up from hospital, thereby negating the need for ambulances to be used, and people attending their local GPs instead of visiting the accident and emergency department. This has helped to ameliorate matters. It is extremely important that those to whom I refer should work together. When the necessary plans were put in place last week, the numbers waiting in accident and emergency departments dropped. This week, the numbers are well below those that obtained at the same time last year.

Unfortunately, there is only so much that members of the community can do to help doctors and nurses. In addition, front-line staff can only be stretched so far. There is a need for further step-down care places to be provided, and I acknowledge what the Minister said in this regard. A number of such places were recently made available at Kilmainhamwood nursing home in north Meath. However, more of these places are required in the area. In addition, we must ensure that the Fair Deal scheme is funded in a comprehensive manner. While numbers have been kept quite low at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan - the Minister acknowledged this during a conversation I had with him earlier in the week - Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is at breaking point. The latter facility has always been at the top of the list in terms of the number of people obliged to wait to be seen. There is a need for further staff to be recruited. When I spoke to staff and management at the hospital last week, I was informed that staffing levels are a problem. While recruitment has taken place, the numbers taken on have been limited. There is a shortage of doctors and nurses at the hospital, and this has led to staff feeling quite pressured.

Drogheda is not situated in my constituency but it is quite close by. I have been sent to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital on a number of occasions and many of my constituents have also presented there. When the Minister is working with the task force he established in December - a move I very much welcome - will he consider Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda in conjunction with Our Lady's Hospital, Navan? I ask that the position of both facilities be further analysed and that a plan in respect of them be put in place. While the population of the north east has grown, the services available have not grown with it. That is not just the case with regard to health, although I accept that the latter is the issue on which we are focused this evening.

Most people would agree that there is no quick solution to this problem. Ireland has a growing and an aging population and this is going to give rise to difficulties as time progresses. I welcome the wide range of actions being put in place by the HSE and the Minister to improve matters both in general and in the context of emergency care. I also welcome the €25 million that has been allocated in respect of delayed discharges, as well as €3 million in additional funding that was provided at Christmas. We know that the position with regard to accident and emergency departments is unpredictable. There could be two people waiting to be seen at a given time and five minutes later there could be 15 people there. It is impossible to predict what is going to happen in an accident and emergency department. However, both the Government and the Minister are focused on finding a solution. I thank the Minister for his statement tonight on the many factors we are dealing with and the many measures that have been taken. I also thank him for the work he has done in the past two weeks. The figures do not lie. The numbers of people waiting in accident and emergency departments were reduced within the space of a week as a result of everyone working together.

On a slightly separate note, I take this opportunity to urge the Irish Nursing and Midwifery Board to find a solution to the current problem with regard to retention fees. The board is meeting tomorrow and I plead with its members to identify a solution as soon as possible, because we do not want to find ourselves in a situation whereby thousands of nurses might be struck off the register.

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