Minister singles out Cork hospital as Sinn Féin condemns A&E wait times

The Health Minister singled out Cork University Hospital’s performance as Sinn Féin accused the Government of making hospital waiting times worse.

According to the latest Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) figures, 12,274 patients were treated in inappropriate locations in Irish hospitals last month, making it the worst September on record.

Speaking during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil on Thursday, Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said 12,106 people aged 75 and over spent more than 24 hours in emergency departments in the first half of this year, an increase of almost 21%.

“These are already sick people,” he said. “There are parents. There are grandparents. They’re left waiting through the day, into the night, into the day again. They’re exhausted. They’re frightened. They’re in pain.

“These are people who have worked hard all their lives. They’ve raised their families. They’re people who built this country, and it’s shameful that an elderly person would have to go through this.

“Where is the dignity? Where is the compassion? Because you know what this is? This is cruel. It is absolutely cruel what is happening to our elderly people.

“These are our parents, these are our grandparents, and they deserve dignity and safe care, and they deserve answers.”

According to INMO’s Trolley Watch report, 531 people were waiting on trolleys or in inappropriate bed spaces across Irish hospitals on Thursday. It was the second fewest so far this month, down from an October high of 684 on Tuesday.

Mr Doherty’s criticism was directed at Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who was taking the Leaders’ Questions.

She said the Government’s “absolute priority” is that people are not waiting in hospital trolleys, adding the issue of overcrowding has arisen because of soaring demand.

“Demand has increased everywhere,” she said. “Demand has increased in Beaumont Hospital, but they don’t have an unsafe situation in relation to trolleys this morning. Demand has increased across the board. Demand has increased in Limerick. Demand has increased in Cork.

“I take it so seriously because when I go into a hospital emergency room, whether I go in on a scheduled or an unscheduled basis, which I often do, every person there waiting has their dignity. Every person there is important to all of us.

“Every person there is our family, and it is because of patient safety, it is because of patient dignity that we have this focus on urgent and emergency care.”

Mr Doherty said in an “unprecedented” situation, senior management in Irish hospitals are telling politicians ‘I have to speak out because I am worried about the safety of my patients’.

He said the Health Minister is disregarding their concerns.

“What I hear, Minister, is that everything is okay,” he said.

“Minister, I was listening to your response, and I was trying when I was listening to you just to think about me as the son or daughter of one of those elderly patients, one of the 12,106 people over the age of 75 who have their dignity stripped away from them because of what is happening, who are forced to wait in accidents, emergencies for over 24 hours, sick, worried, concerned, and what you have said today gives no reassurance to them.

“The situation has gotten worse under your leadership. There are 2,000 more people now at this point in time, that are waiting over 24 hours, that are elderly, than were at this time last year.

“They’re the realities. I’m not talking about one individual hospital. I’m talking about the facts right across the network, we have a serious, serious problem.”

Ms Carroll MacNeill repeated that “demand has increased across the country”.

Responding to a call for greater recruitment, she said some hospitals are worse at utilising resources than others, leading to overcrowding, singling out Cork University Hospital.

“The reality is that demand is increased in every area and in every hospital, and I look at it on a whole of hospital basis every single day, every single day,” she said.

“So you tell me why is Beaumont different to Cork? Both of them have recruited. Both of them have the same demand pressures. Both of them have needs for the future into 2027, which is what this budget has delivered, but Beaumont have nine people on trolleys, whereas Cork have 44.

“They are using things differently. You tell me why James’s (Hospital), one of the biggest, busiest hospitals in this country, in an area of particular socio-economic disadvantage, only have 10 people on trolleys, notwithstanding the pressures that they face, but Cork has 44.

“But the facts are here every single day, and the reality is that there are some hospitals that have not improved that need to improve.

“Bizarrely, the ones that consistently don’t improve, ie Cork, have had the highest recruitment. So, if there was a correlation between recruitment and performance, I’d agree with you, but there isn’t.”