Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The situation in our accident and emergency departments is chaotic and out of control. All of us in this House will have been shocked at the contents of a letter written by an emergency department consultant at Tallaght hospital to his chief executive officer, which was copied to the Minister for Health and referenced by me to the Taoiseach yesterday. It outlines how a couple in their 90s, married for 59 years, found themselves waiting for long periods in an emergency department. The man, who has advanced Parkinson's disease, was left a on trolley in a conduit between the psychiatric rooms and some cubicles for over 29 hours.

The consultant refers in his letter to there being 79 patients in the emergency department at 10.40 p.m., 19 of whom were waiting for beds and two of whom had been waiting in the emergency department for longer than two days. In regard to the man with Parkinson's disease, the consultant stated, "This man, like the others in non-designated patient conduits, had no privacy, no dignity, was subject to constant noise torture, constant light torture, resulting in major sleep deprivation and pressure effects causing pain as a result of lying for an advanced period on a trolley not designated for same, as well as boarding conditions that constitute an infection control hazard." He further stated, "Nobody of any age should be subjected to this inhumanity." He then spoke about gross governance failure evidenced by two patients who were boarded and deemed to be requiring isolation, a patient festering two days and 11 hours and a dedicated pressure control isolation room that currently lies idle in the expanded new emergency department, along with eight cubicles lying idle since June of this year. Chillingly, the letter concludes, "It's only a matter of time before we disclose our next crowding related death at Tallaght hospital while crowding is tolerated."

The INMO has now balloted for industrial action, citing record numbers on trolleys in our hospital emergency departments, the total figure for which amounted to 80,000 over the past ten months, which is an all-time high since the introduction of trolley watch. There were 8,000 people on hospital trolleys in the month of October alone. Two years ago, the Taoiseach announced to this House that he was taking personal charge of health services. This letter speaks to an absence of decency and dignity. The situation has worsened over the past two years. Can the Taoiseach explain the reason for this to the House?

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