Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising three discrete and separate issues. I will not have time to go into them in any great detail. Each has to be considered individually.

For some time the Government has been examining emergency departments in hospitals as a priority. That is why last December the Minister for Health and I discussed how to resource them and ensure there would be adequate resources to deal with the pressures on them. Last December the Minister for Health established an emergency task force. We tried to identify the impediments to ensuring people had access to beds quickly when it was determined in emergency departments that they needed them. We have deployed considerable resources to get what used to be called late discharges out of hospital into a more appropriate setting. That is why we have further resourced the fair deal scheme greatly such that the 16 week waiting time has been reduced to between two and four weeks. There are 1,200 additional home care packages in order that people can be treated at home rather than in an emergency or hospital setting. We have also opened additional beds.

Let us consider the individual cases about which the Deputy talked. With great respect to him, in the case of the 91 year old man, we need to respect the privacy of the individual. However, an aged person should not have been left on a trolley for that length of time. We need to understand why and how it happened. That is separate from the individual’s right to privacy which neither the hospital authorities nor the Government can ignore. However, we need to know exactly what happened in the case and why the person concerned did not have access to a bed.

In the very sad case of Dualtagh Donnelly in Dundalk I join the Deputy in expressing my sympathy and that of the Government to the Donnelly family. I understand the National Ambulance Service received the emergency call at 3.06 a.m. on Monday, 26 October. It was classified as life-threatening. The rapid response vehicle crewed by an advanced paramedic arrived at the scene 23 minutes later at 3.29 a.m. An emergency ambulance arrived at 3.45 a.m. While the emergency paramedics were en route, the National Ambulance Service call taker stayed on the line to give first aid instructions to the caller. On their arrival, the paramedics did everything they could for the patient, but, unfortunately and regrettably, he passed away, which is very sad.

On the third issue, the alleged assault in South Tipperary General Hospital, on 28 October a female patient was checked by medical staff. The Garda was called and it is investigating the matter. The male patient was moved to a side room and has been approved for long-term care and remains in hospital, where he is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by security staff, pending acceptance by a health care facility appropriate to his needs. The matter is being properly investigated by An Garda Síochána.

As a former Minister for Health, I am aware that emergency departments provide front-line services for a variety of cases. Issues will arise, in respect of we need full transparency. The Deputy is right that if anybody wishes to make a complaint about any matter, staff or not, it must be fully and completely independently investigated.

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