Dáil debates

Thursday, 14 May 2020

Covid-19 (Health) - Statements

 

4:25 pm

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Donnell for the questions and for raising the issue of capacity in University Hospital Limerick, as he has done for many a year. I note his comments about people waiting in the emergency department, ED. From my own recollection of visiting that hospital and its relatively new ED, my understanding is that sometimes the most appropriate place might be to isolate someone within the ED, where there may be a single isolation room or the likes available. I will certainly ask for a report on the issue and work with the HSE and hospital management to do anything we can to support them. In many ways the Deputy's question highlights the need to keep the capacity we have our private hospital facilities, at least in the short term. I am conscious of the fact that there is a private facility in Limerick as well. Having that extra capacity will be crucial in the short term as we try to bring on more capacity in the public health service. I went with the Deputy to look at the 60-bed extension at University Hospital Limerick, which must be nearly completed by now. I know that was due to open later this year. I will certainly get the Deputy an update on that and on the 48 beds.

We are going to have to provide health services in a different way. People talk about resuming non-Covid-19 care. I do not think anyone means this, but it is not just a matter of switching it back on as it was. It is going to have to be about doing things in a very different way. We cannot go back to having packed emergency departments and outpatient waiting rooms when we are trying to minimise the spread of infection and allow infection control. This will mean more testing in hospitals for patients and staff, more protective equipment, better scheduling of appointments and trying to do more with telemedicine, as we have seen. It may also mean a continuing enhanced role for initiatives like the community assessment hubs that have opened across the country.

The Deputy's broader question was about how we can get our country open while keeping people safe. There are a couple of points here. The protocol launched last week showed how a safe workplace can operate. That is a framework, not a static document. It is very helpful. It is an agreement between employers, unions and the Government on what needs to be done. It is enforceable. If a business wants to open, it has to be able to abide by it. That protects employees as well. I refer also to testing and tracing. This will mean that if a cluster of cases or an outbreak does occur, a possibility the Deputy raised with me in this House last week, we can very quickly get on top of it. The third point is as important, if not the most important. It concerns individual behaviour. We have to make sure that we as citizens continue to practice a good public health response so that we can limit the spread of the virus.

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