Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When the Minister, Deputy Harris, apologised to the 600 patients who were left on trolleys earlier this year he said he was the Minister with a plan, he had the resources and he was going to build capacity. A total of 458 patients are on trolleys and in wards today as I speak, including 21 in my county hospital of Letterkenny, there having been 20 patients on trolleys last Friday and 30 patients on trolleys last Wednesday. The reason I raised this matter is that a 19-bed ward in Letterkenny University Hospital is lying empty. The hospital management asked last year for resources to reopen that 19 short-stay bed ward, yet the Government and the HSE have turned a blind eye to a capacity issue that can be quickly addressed. As a former Minister for Health and the leader of this Government, will the Taoiseach intervene to make sure the €1.8 million required is made available in order that we can increase the capacity and take patients off trolleys and accommodate them in proper beds in Letterkenny University Hospital?

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