Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Admhaím go bhfuil brú ar na seirbhísí éigeandála, go háirithe ar na hospidéil. Bhí sé sin le feiscint ar Lá Fhéile Bríde agus an deireadh seachtaine sin. Níl sé sásúil agus tá sé sin ráite ag an Aire Sláinte. I acknowledge first of all the very significant challenges facing emergency departments, especially over St. Brigid's weekend, the pressure on people and the distress that causes to people waiting long hours in our emergency departments. The overcrowding on St. Brigid's weekend, however, which the Minister was right to highlight, was directly linked to low weekend discharges and subsequent high numbers on trolleys. This has been an issue for quite some time. The introduction of the public-only contract, which was a very significant development achieved last year, was very much linked to a changing roster arrangement and deployment of senior decision-makers in our hospitals to give weekend cover.

Historically in the public health service, weekends are the worst times to be admitted to a hospital. The House needs to engage with that. There has been enormous investment in health in the past five years by any standard, both in recruitment and infrastructure, and there needs to be more. Parallel with that investment we need to analyse forensically the deployment of people with a view to getting the optimal outcome for patients and people who attend our hospitals. We have wonderful people working in our hospitals but we have long said it cannot be five days. There has to be rostering of senior decision-makers to enable better discharge so we do not get this issue at weekends, especially bank holiday weekends, which have been a feature.

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