Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The disjointed approach towards the accident and emergency unit in Navan hospital sums up the misdirected approach the Department and the HSE takes towards the provision of emergency care. The Government has been attempting to shut down the service in Nenagh for years under the small hospitals framework. The Minister of State, Deputy English, asked us to listen to doctors and experts. The Government has had 11 years and nothing has moved. It needs to start listening. People in my constituency, especially those who avail of health services provided by University Hospital Limerick's emergency department, know only too well what the consequences of this can be. A fateful thing happened in 2009 when the 24-hour emergency department in Nenagh Hospital was ended with promises of a centre of excellence in Limerick. What do we have today under the Minister's watch? We have chaos. He talks about us playing politics with this matter but we are not. We are telling the truth about what is actually happening out there. I disagree with one thing Deputy McNamara said. The buck does stop with the Minister as far as I am concerned.

The emergency department in Limerick serves an area from Laragh to Lahinch and, according to HIQA, it was the second busiest emergency department in 2021, although it had the second lowest bed stock among model 4 hospitals. In April, patients over the age of 75 had an average wait time before admission at the accident and emergency department of just over 22 hours. Adults are regularly left queueing outside and HIQA has said the emergency department is not compliant with patient safety and dignity standards or with workforce capacity standards. I will also point out that the latest HIQA report on University Hospital Limerick notes a number of times that there is no model 3 hospital in the University Limerick Hospitals Group. The report states this contrasts with the structure of other hospital groups in Ireland. We need more than this and Nenagh has an important role to play. I would like to hear the Minister's thoughts on this.

Ultimately, what we need is a major step change in healthcare. Sinn Féin has accessible proposals as to how to achieve this. We have a plan, in contrast to the chaos shown by the HSE and the Minister. We do not need to see the hospitals close to Navan buckle under the strain the Department and the HSE are brewing up. Let University Hospital Limerick serve as a lesson. We hope the Minister learns that lesson. I commend Deputy Guirke on bringing this motion.

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