Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Taoiseach has not used the three minutes available to him, I might take some of the time for my answer because this case is really serious. I am not asking the Taoiseach to comment on the individual facts. That is not possible and it is not my way. I am asking him to acknowledge that both he and the Government have been put on notice repeatedly about the state of the hospital in Galway. It is not fit for purpose. It is No.1 on the risk register in terms of capacity. We have put the Taoiseach on notice about this. I have pointed out that in a period of ten years there have been 13 external reviews, or more than one per year, carried out. I am not talking about an internal or other type of review which, presumably, includes those carried out by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA. In this case the woman was allegedly assaulted by somebody who was drunk and roaming about with a carer but not being properly cared for. There was no porter to take the woman to a hospital between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. There were no security staff. One cleaner appeared to clean up the mess when the person who was allegedly drunk also went to another patient. The family were told, "Let's go forward." Can the Taoiseach imagine from his previous life a diagnosis of a hip fracture being made by a patient's daughter who has no medical experience? I want him to consider this in the context of what other Deputies and I have continually said to show him that the hospital in Galway is not fit for purpose. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation put him on notice that it was "gravely concerned", that there would be "delayed care", "missed care", "poor care" and so on. I really want an answer to the question about the absence of staff, the overburdened health system and the collateral damage of people suffering, not just from their illnesses but also from mismanagement in a health system that is not fit for purpose.

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