The Southern Star

By Tim Ryan, Correspondent

Kelleher outlines health crisis across all sectors

There is now a crisis health situation where community, hospital, primary care and mental health care services across the country are simply not able to cope with the demand, North Central Fianna Fáil Deputy Billy Kelleher told the Dáil. Some 7,781 admitted patients were on trolleys in the month of August alone, he said.

“There were over 440 people on trolleys in our emergency departments last Wednesday, admittedly down today to 345, but still an extraordinary figure for this time of the year,” he said. “Over 65,000 people were treated on trolleys during the first six months of 2017. By any credible stretch of the imagination, the Tánaiste now has to accept that this Government, despite giving itself applause and claps on the back about the biggest budget it has provided for the health care services, is not providing the health care services that are required.”

We now have a situation where, week on week, we have record after record being broken with regard to overcrowding in our emergency departments and the number of people in outpatient and inpatient services is now nearly at 700,000, he said. “Our acute hospital system is in crisis. Couple that with challenges in primary care and we are going to have a winter in which there will be an awful lot of pressure on our emergency departments. Elderly people in particular will be waiting inordinate periods to be admitted to hospital.”

In reply, Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald said the Government is focusing on the priority areas in health. “For example, reducing waiting times for the longest waiting patients is one of the Government's key priorities,” she said. “It is for that reason that €20 million was allocated to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, in the Budget, rising to €55 million in 2018.”

In order to reduce the numbers of long-waiting patients, she said the Minister for Health asked the HSE to develop waiting list action plans for 2017 in the areas of inpatient care and also scoliosis and outpatient services. “The inpatient, the day-case and the outpatient plans focus on reducing the number of patients who are waiting 15 months or more for inpatient and day-case treatment or for an outpatient appointment by the end of October,” she said.

Specific date sought for signing for UN Convention

Cork South West Fianna Fáil Deputy Margaret Murphy O’Mahony sought a specific date from the Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald for the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities.

“The Tánaiste must excuse my cynicism, because exactly this time last year I asked for a date and we were told it would be before the end of the year,” she said. “The Taoiseach has stated the Government is using a different approach to other European countries, and this is certainly true because I find its approach very hands-off and I would like a more specific date, please.” In reply, the Tánaiste said the Department of Health and the Department Justice and Equality are working together on finalising the amendments for the Bill, particularly on the issue of deprivation of liberty, which is a very complex issue.

“We intend to sign the Convention by the end of this year and bring the relevant legislation to the House before then,” she said. “The point the Taoiseach was making is that some countries signed before they did all of the work or developed the services for those with a disability. We have taken the approach that we want to make sure everything is in place before we sign it. That is actually more constructive approach. It means better services for people with disabilities.”