Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Deputies for participating for what will be the Labour Party's last Private Members' business of this Dáil. It is important, therefore, we selected the issue of health. It is one of the two overarching social and economic priorities for this country, the other being housing. Health is a critical issue and we sought to be constructive in the motion we tabled to allow the Government the opportunity to embrace ideas coming from this side of the House to improve our health services, which is critical for every part of this country and for every Member of this House.

In that context, quite frankly it was disappointing to see the four-page amendment that was submitted by the Minister for Health. It is an amendment like none I have ever seen, more of a self-congratulatory speech than an amendment to a serious motion tabled.

If we are going to be serious about tackling real issues that everybody in this House is familiar with, the first step is recognising that. I would have thought that on the eve of contested ideas in a general election, we might have at least acknowledged from a collective point of view what the problems are. Instead of that, all we got from the Government side is a head-in-the-sand view. Never mind the issues that every Member of this House has brought before the House, look at quality and volume of money we are spending. If it is not having the impact, however, it is no good.

I want to deal with a number of specifics, one of which is hospital overcrowding. It used to be a winter phenomenon. We used to dread going into the winter months, and we had winter plans to deal with it. Now, it is a permanent feature of our acute hospital system. My colleagues have dealt extensively with the staffing crisis in our hospitals, and it is a staffing crisis. It has been met by the HSE with a range of ad hoc measures, including spending 3% of the health budget, an enormous sum of money - €650 million last year - on agency staff recruited from the private sector to plug the gaps that are so obvious in our acute health system. All this puts more pressure on existing staff, leading to burnout and disillusionment. It is a vicious circle, making it even more difficult to recruit and retain staff, worsening our health services even more. We are a wealthy nation now. We should not only aspire to having one of the best health systems in the world; we are in a position to build it. We have the resources, a population that has provided healthcare professionals to countries across the globe, and a highly skilled and committed cohort of health workers. In that context, it is unacceptable that we not only expect but take as normal overcrowding and long waiting lists for treatment in our acute hospital system.

I raise one issue in particular that can be resolved immediately and have a hugely beneficial impact on both patient care and staff morale in my own local hospital, Wexford General Hospital. Last May, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, confirmed on South East Radio that Wexford General Hospital would get its long-promised 97 additional acute bed extension. This was to be part of 706 acute hospital inpatient beds announced for the HSE Dublin and south-east region. Currently, the number of acute beds in the region is 2.2 per 100,000, a number which is, of course, exaggerated by the concentration of acute beds serving the nation in Dublin. The problem is that although full planning was achieved for this extension in Wexford in 2023, we are still waiting for the commencement of work. This six-storey extension will provide single-occupancy rooms, private en suites, a staff base, staff changing facilities and occupational therapy and physiotherapy rooms to immeasurably improve facilities on site in Wexford. This development was originally promised at the same time as a similar extension was announced for St. Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny. That extension is built and in operation and is called the Ormond wing. More power to them and good luck to them; it is needed, but we are still waiting in Wexford. Why? The built environment has a huge impact on the well-being of patients and staff. Having space, hygienic surroundings, proper capacity for infection control and basic facilities for staff to rest, change and eat are essential to facilitate and hold on to staff in any health facility. When the coffers of the State are overflowing, there is simply no excuse for delaying this urgent build at Wexford General Hospital and the many other urgent builds across the country. It seems to me that the Department of Health is traumatised now by the overruns at the national children's hospital and will not plough on with the urgent works needed at hospitals elsewhere.

This is likely my last opportunity to make a direct plea to Government on this issue. Build Wexford hospital's extension and provide the 97 beds to a hospital that has proven itself in the midst of the most stressful of times, coping in an exemplary fashion with a major fire on 1 March 2023. At that time, 200 patients were evacuated safely with no injuries reported to either patients or staff.

Our ambulance service, too, needs resourcing, as our motion underscores. We hear of cases where people in urgent need of hospitalisation are waiting unacceptably long times for an ambulance to arrive. I cite one very recent case in Wexford, where a man attending an opera festival event took ill. Remember, thousands of visitors are in Wexford right now, greatly expanding the 25,000-plus local population there. Luckily, a local pharmacist was in the premises in Wexford town centre and immediately recognised that the man was having a stroke. She called an ambulance at once. Wexford General Hospital is only a short distance away from this facility. The caller was told that the closest available ambulance - this happened this week in Wexford - was in Waterford. The closest available ambulance to the major population centre of Wexford at a time of burgeoning population was in Waterford. The man had to be carted onto a private car and brought to hospital. It is entirely unacceptable that a town the size of Wexford, with an expanded population at this time, was dependant on an ambulance from Waterford in a medical emergency.

Recently published figures show that, on 41 separate occasions in Wexford during the first six months of this year, an ambulance failed to arrive within an hour of a high-priority call. This is not acceptable. I should say that the figures for my Cork colleagues are worse. There were 77 instances there. In Tipperary, there were 35 instances in the first six months of this year where people were waiting more than an hour in an emergency case. There were 34 instances in Kilkenny. Our problem seems to be that ambulances are caught up at accident and emergency departments, trying to discharge patients into overcrowded accident and emergency facilities. It comes back to the lack of beds. We must stop this deadly cycle of thousands of hospital beds promised again and again with no delivery. I should tell the House that the man I referred to is making a good recovery despite his ordeal.

I thank all contributors to this important motion. Everybody in this House wants to provide the best possible health service. We in the Labour Party are proposing today specific and immediate steps to bring about improvements now. I hope the Minister and Government will accept and act on them. By tabling this self-congratulatory amendment, however, I am afraid that does not look likely.

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