Silence from HSE and Department of Health on CUH is unacceptable
Silence from HSE and Department of Health on CUH is unacceptable - The Labour Party
Labour Senator for Cork South Central Laura Harmon has described as “simply unacceptable” the failure of both the HSE and Department of Health to put anyone forward for media interview as national attention on the staffing crisis at Cork University Hospital enters its fourth day since the CEO of CUH wrote her letter to the HSE on it.
Senator Harmon said:
“We are now on day four of national media attention on a serious crisis at one of the country’s largest hospitals, yet neither the HSE nor the Department of Health will put anyone forward to answer questions. That is simply unacceptable and an abdication of responsibility.
“The CEO of Cork University Hospital has warned that the current position is not sustainable and that it is not safe to enter the winter period with this level of staffing uncertainty. That warning demands an immediate and public response from the people responsible for running our health service.
“Instead, Cork and Munster patients, their families and frontline healthcare workers face silence. The HSE and the Department cannot treat a direct warning about patient safety as a communications problem to manage or hide from. They must confront the underlying staffing crisis.
“Government accountability cannot disappear when the questions become difficult. The Minister and senior HSE management must come forward today, provide clear answers and publish an immediate staffing plan for CUH. In recent days we have seen statements from the INMO and the Irish Hospital Consultants raising concerns about staff, yet we have heard from nobody in the HSE or Department of Health. Patients and healthcare workers deserve action not more silence.”