Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Today, 29 people of all ages who were in need of medical assistance were left lying in the corridors of the emergency department of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. Staff in the emergency department had to run the equivalent of an inpatient ward in the corridors of the emergency department, on top of all the patients presenting to the emergency department 24-7. Staff also had to endure this on top of staff shortages. Every single winter, the Government feigns shock and promises to tackle the situation, states it will not happen again, that it will do better the next year and how this year was the worst year, as well as stating that it intends to improve next year. Why does the Government do that? I will give the history of why it happens repeatedly in County Louth.

In 2010, the previous Fianna Fáil-led Government closed 97 acute beds in Louth County Hospital. It would not listen to public concern and warnings that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda would not be able to cope and there would be overcrowding. That Government bulldozed ahead and closed the beds. Only 40 beds were opened in Drogheda to compensate for this. I acknowledge that additional beds were provided there recently. However, that only gets us back to the position we were in 2010. Despite that, in 2012, the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government again targeted public provision of beds in County Louth. They removed the long stay and respite beds in the college hospital in Drogheda and ignored massive public opposition to that move. A total of 10,000 people took to the streets of Drogheda to protest about it and the Government was told that it would compound matters. To this day, elderly who are medically fit cannot be discharged from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital because no home help, respite care and home care packages and housing adaptation grants are available. One problem has compounded another. To add insult to injury, we were promised a 100-bed unit in St. Mary's, Drogheda after the hospital was closed. Six years later, not one brick has been laid. The Government should not feign shock every year at the trolley numbers. They are the result of policy and until that policy changes, nothing will improve.

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