Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I tabled a written question on the cutbacks in home care packages in Galway. I addressed the question to the Minister and got a reply on 4 October which said "As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply". I contacted the Health Service Executive before I tabled the question which I tabled in exasperation to the Minister and this is the response I received. New politics has been mentioned but at this point it is a cliché. How in God's name could I get a reply that this is a matter for the Health Service Executive when it has clearly pointed out that its money and funding have run out. I will put the consequence of that funding running out in context for the Minister of State. There are two oncology wards in the hospital in Galway which cannot discharge or admit patients. That is a centre of excellence that covers Donegal down to Clare. They cannot discharge patients who are ready for discharge and they cannot admit patients. Those they cannot discharge cannot be discharged because recently a patient, who I will not identify, with stage 4 cancer was discharged with six home care hours when 21 hours were recommended. In that week, a person suffering from leukaemia stayed in a B&B because they could not gain admission to the oncology ward. Yesterday there were 35 patients on trolleys in a centre of excellence. Two weeks ago, a woman in her mid-80s died on a trolley while waiting for admission. Full capacity protocol has been in operation in the hospital in Galway every day since last Thursday and sporadically before then. Code black, which is the top code, has been in operation every day this week and most of last week. Yesterday there were four people in a queue to gain admission to the resuscitation room in the accident and emergency department. That is four patients waiting for admission to a resuscitation room where there are two beds. There is a two-hour wait for a triage nurse in the accident and emergency department. Elective procedures have been cancelled. Oncology clinics have been cancelled without explanation.

There is a new ward - I might pre-empt the Minister of State's reply - that is almost finished and has 75 beds. Management has confirmed there is no funding for this hospital and that by January or February its intention is to close two wards in the hospital, reducing capacity further, and transfer the equivalent of one ward into an empty building which has the capacity for 75 beds and will be operating at one third capacity.

That is the position in Galway. I make no apology for raising this and I will raise it at every single opportunity I get. Two actions need to be taken. First, a commitment to a new hospital in Merlin Park is needed as a long-term measure. This has been called for not just by me, but by the hospital’s clinical director, who has said the state of the hospital is number one on the clinical risk register. Second, we need immediate extra funding for home care packages to relieve the pressure on the hospital. No Government can stand over a situation where four people are waiting to go into a resuscitation room, an 80 year-old woman dies on a trolley and there are any amount of other incidents in that hospital.

I know this is not the Minster of State’s area but I tried to table a question to the Minister. I received a circular answer so I am tabling it again and seeking an answer.

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