Rising trolley figures not sustainable for patients or staff in hospitals – Kelly

03 January 2018

Commenting on the trolley crisis Labour Party Health spokesperson, Alan Kelly TD, has said that we need to see a recalibration in our health service from acute care to community-based care.

Deputy Kelly said:

“The latest INMO trolley watch figures show that 677 people are laying on trolleys in our hospitals. This figure is the highest we have seen on record.

“Rising trolley numbers like these are not sustainable for patients, their families and the hardworking staff in hospitals around the country.

“It is clear that little was learned from the last winter, where there was no plan in place for the winter flu epidemic that caused a huge crisis in our hospitals.

There is no point in blaming the flu outbreak for the current crisis. It is disappointing that the HSE had no plan in place to deal with what is now looking to be an annual problem.

“We need to see a change of tact from Fine Gael, who have held the Health portfolio for seven years, because pumping an extra €500 million into our health service every year is not sustainable when we are seeing numbers this high lying on trolleys.

“There is a critical need to look at increasing the volume of home help hours. We have to ensure that community intervention teams can operate longer and consistently across the country. Our citizens deserve to be treated locally in their community instead of lying on hospital trolleys waiting to be treated.

“Those who need to use our hospitals deserve to be treated in a timely manner and provided with high quality treatment. Overcrowding in our A&Es and long waiting lists are symptoms of a system that requires better organisation and more people.”

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