Trolley Crisis No Relief Soon

Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has described the news that a 92 year old was left on a chair in the Emergency Department of the Mater Hospital for over 24 hours as another scandal that demeans us all. Crowe said that without any new plans or new approaches that it unfortunately looks likely that the trolley crisis will continue unabated as the summer comes to an end.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“News that a 92 year old women was left on a chair in an Emergency Department for over 24 hours over the last couple of days is a scandal that demeans us all and should be totally unacceptable.

“What is particularly worrying is that cases like this senior citizen are becoming more common and having less and less impact. Stories of vulnerable citizens are becoming commonplace and look likely to continue.

“Without any new plans or new approaches unfortunately the trolley crisis looks likely to continue unabated as the summer comes to an end.

“All the previous efforts of the Health Minister Simon Harris and the HSE to end the trolley crisis have failed.

“The most recent Trolley Watch figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association confirm that August was the worst on record for hospital overcrowding.

“Throughout August 7,911 patients spent time one night or more on a trolley, and we know from trolley watch that the trolley count jumped up by 20%

“The fears of hospital staff working on the frontline have been confirmed in fact there are 169 emergency department nursing posts lying vacant and pleas for extra resources more staff, more hospital beds with extra step down facilities have fallen on deaf ears.

“It is undeniable that the trolley count has escalated under the current Minister for health.

“Last January the Dáil passed a Private Members Business motion advocating solutions to resolve the trolley crisis, however, Fine Gael have failed to make any attempt to implement any aspect of it.

“They have failed to address the nursing recruitment and retention crisis which is a key component of the trolley crisis. An analysis of the trolley crisis shows that hospitals with unfilled nursing vacancies have also the highest numbers of patients on trolleys.

“Minister Harris has also ignored the implementation of the Sláintecare Report, ignored the bed capacity review, ignored numerous Dáil motions proposing solutions to the mounting trolley debacle, failed to deal with the growing waiting lists, and has overseen the health staff recruitment and retention failure

“The unprecedented trolley figures show the current health system is broken and the current Minister incapable or unable to resolve the crisis. He needs to go.

“The latest case of the 92 year old left on a chair in the Emergency Department of the Mater Hospital also highlights that as society we also are losing our ability to be shocked and worryingly our humanity.

” ENDS