Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this motion on health care. I thank Deputy Harty and Mairéad in Deputy Mattie McGrath's office for drafting the motion. I will take this opportunity to once again put forward an effective solution to address a major problem in Galway. I firmly believe that a minor injuries unit in the grounds of Merlin Park University Hospital would significantly reduce congestion and overcrowding at the accident and emergency department in the hospital. One can hear most mornings on the local radio station, Galway Bay FM, of how chronic the situation there is at times due to overcrowding at the emergency department in University Hospital Galway, UHG, particularly with people on trolleys. It has passed its worst record ever. A minor injuries unit would help to alleviate the pressure on the emergency department in Galway.

Last month, when I raised the possibility of a minor injuries unit at Merlin Park in Galway, the Taoiseach said it was a good idea and that he would appraise it further and discuss it with the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and the HSE. This should be done as a priority. Since I raised this on Leaders' Questions I have been informed by reply to a parliamentary question that people with minor injuries now face an average wait of five and a half hours from the time they are first registered to when they are discharged from the emergency department at University Hospital Galway. This compares with less than one hour at the minor injuries unit attached to Roscommon University Hospital. I compliment the staff in that unit in Roscommon. It is working exceptionally well, despite all the bad publicity when the emergency department was closed, which is why I believe there should be a similar unit in Galway. The fact that it takes six times longer to be seen, treated and discharged for a minor injury in an emergency department shows the need for a unit at Merlin Park to handle the minor injuries that currently take so much time to deal with in the emergency department.

Chronic parking congestion at the hospital is also a major problem. It frequently causes people to miss appointments. I have called for a designated parking spot to be established for people who have appointments in UHG, particularly cancer patients, but it has not happened. People have to leave the car outside, bring an elderly loved one to the unit where he or she is to be treated and run back out again and try to park the car. These people might have come from as far as Mayo, Sligo and Donegal. That issue must be addressed.

The number of people seeking treatment at the emergency department in UHG increased last year to a total of 62,355. At present, only one in four people coming to the emergency department in Galway end up being admitted to hospital, so the majority of cases could easily be handled in a minor injuries unit at Merlin Park. Consider how that would transform the picture at the overcrowded emergency department in UHG, where staff are working under enormous pressure in a unit that is universally accepted as unfit for purpose. A minor injuries unit for Galway is a no-brainer, regardless of what plans there are for new facilities. There are 11 minor injuries units operating successfully throughout the country that can handle everything from broken bones, lacerations, strains and sprains to minor scalds and burns. They are open seven days per week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Last year the unit in Roscommon treated more than 6,000 patients. That unit is staffed by a small number of competent staff overseen by a consultant physician and an advanced nurse practitioner.

I acknowledge there are plans for a new emergency department at University Hospital Galway, but this project is still at design stage. A new facility is still many years away. The Minister recently informed me that an elective hospital plan for Merlin Park is a long-term plan and that with a ten-year plan many proposals, including an elective only hospital, are at a very early stage. It could be ten, 15 or 20 years away while the minor injuries unit could be up and running by the end of the year. If we could bring the people with scalds, burns, strains, lacerations and broken bones to a minor injuries unit in Merlin Park it could reduce the number attending UHG emergency department by tens of thousands. It would free up parking and take the pressure off the staff, allowing them to deal with emergencies and more serious cases. The Taoiseach admitted that this could be put in place relatively quickly and that the minor injuries units that work in other parts of the country should also work in Galway.

I call for support for this motion and I call on the Minister to work with the HSE to try to provide a minor injuries unit in Merlin Park University Hospital without delay.

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