Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. Many of the actions he has outlined deal with the problems of lay discharges after they have happened. It is poor excuse to talk about the weather as being a problem where our hospital trolley count is concerned. It is not about the weather. The Taoiseach has said that we should not dwell on trolley numbers or waiting lists because they do not reflect the excellent work that is done in our hospital system. Of course excellent work is done in our hospital system, but that is despite the system rather than anything else.

Trolley numbers are a reflection of inadequate bed numbers, the failure to recruit and retain staff and a weak and under-resourced primary care service. They are a reflection of the growing population, as the Minister has identified, and the ageing population. It is a reflection of management structures that are 40 years out of date, and unless there is substantial reform in our health service, we are going nowhere. It is akin to a slow puncture. We are now running out of air in our tyres, and soon we will be running on the rim.

Between 2014 and 2017, average trolley numbers rose by 47%. If one takes the first month of the last five years, they have risen by 51%. We are not dealing with the problem. The average trolley number this month is 515, an all-time record. My question to the Minister is what is he going to do about this now. I do not refer to measures he is going to take in the distant future. When will the Minister realise that a fundamental reform of our health service is required, and not just the attempts to adjust a failing service we have at the moment?

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