Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The issue, in a broader sense, is that the mid-west is actually competing with Galway and Cork for services. The Saolta west group and the southern group are, I think, getting a disproportionate amount of resources compared to the mid-west, and this is a fundamental issue which is leading to overcrowding in our hospitals. Regarding the Minister of State's reference to the Sláintecare report, it has been published for over a year, but there has been no Government response to it. In the Sláintecare report reference is made to how these issues can be tackled on a national basis, though I am of course particularly concerned about the mid-west. The failure of the Government to respond to Sláintecare is most regrettable. The issue really amounts to beds and staffing. We need more step-down beds in our model 2 hospitals, we need modular units in the regional hospitals and we need enhanced community intervention teams, but we also specifically need more diagnostics. Patients are waiting in hospital for inordinately long periods to get diagnostics, particularly scanning. Unfortunately, our scanning units work on a five-day basis, nine to five, but people require them on a 24-hour basis. We need to look at all these aspects which feed into the issue of overcrowding in Limerick because it is a multifactorial issue. Limerick, unfortunately, is a black spot in respect of bed capacity and overcrowding. As Deputy O'Sullivan said, there are 53 people on trolleys in Limerick today, in the middle of summer, and that is completely unacceptable. There is a specific issue which relates to the mid-west which must be addressed.

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