Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response. It goes without saying that the experience that patients have had to endure in recent days in Letterkenny - the same applies to other hospitals - is unacceptable for them, their families and the staff, who have to try to manage what is an impossible situation.

I had hoped the Minister of State could have given me more detail on specifically why there has been overcrowding in Letterkenny in recent days and weeks as well as what specifically will be done. There was too much general comment in the response of the Minister of State. The Minister of State referred to what is being done at a national level, but there must be a specific response that recognises what exactly is causing the issue in Letterkenny and what exactly is required to address it. I call on the Minister of State and the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to engage further with the management in Letterkenny hospital to establish exactly what the issues are and to ensure that the response from the Government and the HSE in appropriate to address them. As I indicated earlier, there are no particular issues yet with respiratory illness or seasonal spikes. Undoubtedly, there are structural issues in the management of our health service and knock-on effects from one hospital to another as well as particular problems at local level.

Can the Minister of State give me more detail on what specifically the Government is going to do in Letterkenny? Will the Minister of State come back with a clear plan on what is going to be done there? Will she give a commitment that the resources and assistance required will be made available to ensure that home help is available for people being discharged from hospital and to ensure that every possible community hospital bed is opened? This particular experience of recent weeks – not that we needed reminding – emphasises the importance of ensuring that community hospital beds are available. We must work to ensure that the use of escalation plans, to which the Minister of State referred, is not the standard response. This is because that standard response means people who were due to come in for day operations and appointments are being told to say at home. Waiting lists get longer as a result.

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