Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I refer specifically to Louth, where a Fianna Fáil Minister said the hospital would not close on his watch. The hospital closed, or the service was greatly reduced, and everything moved to the so-called centre of excellence in Drogheda. We are now suffering from it, yet Fianna Fáil is acting high and mighty over it. We are not here to discuss that but to find some way to rectify the position, get over it and work together to see what can be done. People are suffering and dying because of the way it is structured. The INMO Trolley Watch data estimate 275 patients on trolleys in our emergency units, with 104 patients on trolleys, chairs, beds and beds in wards. This amounts to 429 people nationwide today.

The Trolley Watch figure in the emergency unit and the wards in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is 40, one of the highest in the country. I wish I could say this was the highest figure at the hospital this year but, unfortunately, it is not even the highest figure in the past week. On Monday last week, the INMO Trolley Watch calculated the number on trolleys at 50. This figure has not once dipped below 25 patients in the past week. As a result of the high number of patients on trolleys early last week, the INMO requested that the HSE take the hospital off-call for emergency ambulance calls. I make no apology for making it a local issue. I appreciate the recognition that there is a problem, particularly at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and I welcome the agreement to recruit an extra 88 nurses to help deal with the crisis but I wonder whether it will be enough to improve the situation for patients. This is a dangerous situation and it cannot continue for the people living in County Louth and the surrounding area who rely on the hospital to provide safe and compliant care, like the hospital in Dundalk. Day case procedures were cancelled because nurses had to be moved to Drogheda.

One of the first things I did when I became a Member of this House was to call for a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. This was not in place almost four years ago. I went through hell and back trying to get an orthopaedic paediatric surgeon, yet we do not have one. I keep hearing that applications have been advertised. Sitting in the orthopaedic clinic any day of the week one can see the numbers waiting for treatment from counties Louth, Meath and Monaghan. I have spoken to orthopaedic surgeons and other hospitals who report that babies that need hip operations must wait over one year before getting into the hospitals in Dublin. The surgery required is then greater.

I am not attacking the Minister, who has probably the most difficult job in the Oireachtas. We must see how we can remedy this dysfunction. How can we make sure we provide safe working conditions for medical staff and patients? We cannot expect patients, some of whom are extremely ill, to focus on recovery or treatment while lying on a hospital trolley or in a hallway. We certainly cannot expect our medical staff to work in such a dangerous work environment as has developed in Drogheda. I regret saying that and it is through no fault of the excellent front-line staff in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. I commend them for their dedication to their patients and their work, which astounds me.

In addition to the 88 additional nursing posts to be recruited for Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, a number of measures have been introduced to deal with immediate problems nationwide, including delayed discharges. These include the introduction of 900 transitional care beds in private nursing homes; the provision of 300 overflow beds in acute hospitals; the number of nurses employed by the public health service to increase by at least 500; and additional funding of €3 million in December and €25 million in 2015.As evidenced by this, we have experienced progress in increasing resources and seeking solutions to the matters outlined in the motion, but will it be enough? We need not only to address overcrowding in hospitals, waiting times and staffing but also the supports available when patients leave hospital, that is, the community supports that allow them to receive treatment or recover at home or in another facility. We need to examine this issue. We cannot address the issues in hospitals without addressing and properly resourcing supports in the community. We cannot only address the immediate and obvious issue at hand in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, as we also to need to consider the other supports to create a long-term solution. We all have anecdotes and could all contribute for hours outlining a broken system, but there are areas that need particular attention such as waiting lists. It is unacceptable that people must wait more than 18 months for a cardiac or neurology appointment.