Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. She raised two really important issues. One is the unacceptable level of pressure for patients and healthcare workers in UHL. It is not acceptable. On any given day now, UHL can make up one in five, or even one in four of the number of patients on trolleys in the entire country. At a national level, the good news is that the number of patients on trolleys fell very significantly last year, particularly in the second half of the year . The pressures are now in a smaller number of hospitals, Limerick regularly being number one or number two. A huge amount of resources have been allocated there. I am working very closely with the HSE and my Department to help drive the necessary reforms in UHL. If I may Deputy, I will come back in my next response on the response I got from the chief clinical officer in terms of the emergency department. My view on this is that political decisions are around funding but in terms of urgent and emergency care, we have to be led by the clinical view as to what is in the best interest of the patients. I will revert with that information .

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