Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a national scandal that our health service is becoming a crumbling mess due to the lack of urgent intervention by the Minister for Health. That is extremely unfair to patients and the hard-working nurses, doctors and consultants in hospitals. The fact that there are now thousands of children waiting more than a year for hospital appointments and healthcare is upsetting and distressing for many families. It is adding to their distress that operations in three main children's hospitals have been postponed and the fact that 117,000 people are awaiting healthcare treatment, hospital appointments and procedures, which includes 30,000 children waiting for more than one year. That is unacceptable and must be addressed urgently.

Elderly people are also being failed by the health system. They are forced to lie on hospital trolleys day in and day out. Up to the end of October this year, 13,466 people aged over 75 years of age have endured emergency department waits of more than 24 hours. That is one third more than in the same period last year.

The actions that need to be taken by the Minister for Health are recruitment, increased bed capacity, step-down facilities and home help hours made available and fairly distributed among the regions. Currently, many elderly people and people with disabilities are trapped in hospitals while they wait for the allocation of home help hours. That is escalating the crisis in hospitals. A total of 2.5 million home help hours must be made available urgently within the system because it is chaotic. It is unfair to the well-being of elderly people who are suffering on trolleys and within hospitals waiting for services.

People in Laois and Offaly are being badly failed by the Government and the Minister for Health as there is a chronic shortage of home help hours. Every day of the week I am guaranteed to get a few phone calls on the need for home help hours for people who badly need them.

The Minister for Health must step up to the plate and address the very serious deficiencies in the health system. Capacity must be built before we devise any type of policy. Currently, the basics are not in place. I worry that we have not addressed recruitment or bed capacity. People are being sold short and are being treated unfairly. There must be more focus on investment in GP services, including the funding of chronic disease management and the expansion of GP out-of-hours services. The chronic shortage of GPs in rural communities, which is an issue I have raised on the floor of the Dáil, must be addressed urgently before we talk about any other policy. We need to get the basics right and fill in the gaps first.

It was highlighted today on Midlands 103 radio station that cancer patients are not being given any financial supports. Medical cards have been raised already. Recent research by the Irish Cancer Society found that cancer patients are spending an average of €756 every month. The research also found that those patients are also at the loss of approximately €18,000 in earnings every year. Such a huge burden on those patients is unacceptable. I ask that something be done because it is unbelievable that is happening in 2019 to the most vulnerable and sick people.

Another issue in our health service is the unacceptable uncertainty that exists in terms of hospital services. I was only contacted earlier in the week about Portlaoise hospital. It has been brought to my attention by many people in Laois that there are still no assurances regarding the accident and emergency department at Portlaoise hospital. It was raised a number of years ago and they still have not been given any assurances. I hope the Minister will also get back to me on the maternity unit at Portlaoise hospital, as uncertainty also hangs over it. I understand the Minister for Health will visit Portlaoise very soon. I call on him to give the people fairness and to be honest with them. He should give them the assurances that their services are going to be protected going forward in Laois. This is unfair. It has hung over the area for the last few years.

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