Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last month, in excess of 1,400 patients over the age of 75 waited for more than 24 hours in emergency departments before getting a hospital bed. That was up from 1,100 in January. This is an appalling way to treat elderly citizens of this State. In 2015, when a 100-year-old woman was left on a trolley for 24 hours, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil both said it was unacceptable. In 2018, the Minister's party leader, the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, said that people being left on hospital trolleys was indefensible. It is indefensible. It is indefensible that on this Government's watch, elderly patients in their hundreds suffer this indignity. It is especially galling when the three head honchos in the area of health are being paid the big bucks but we do not see the big results. Where is the urgency from the Government? The emergency departmental task force has not met since November. Does the Government have a plan to deal with this matter? What are the timeframes? Is it just going to allow, as it has in recent years, this indignity to elderly citizens to continue?

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