91-Year-Old Spends 29 Hours On Hospital Trolley

Sinn Féin has hit out at reports that a 91-year-old man spent 29 hours on a trolley in Tallaght Hospital in Dublin.

Spokesperson on Health, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD, described the incident as "shocking" and "appalling".

Deputy Ó Caoláin said: "Reports today of a 91-year-old man spending 29 hours on a trolley in Dublin's Tallaght Hospital, while his wife was also on a trolley for nine hours is truly shocking and further proof that overcrowding continues to increase and all measures taken to date, have failed to address the critical issues of bed capacity and staffing.

"This news has emerged following a letter from Dr James Gray, an emergency department consultant, to the chief executive of Tallaght Hospital where he claimed that there were 'grave and dangerous governance failures'.

"Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident. In December 2014, a 87-year-old woman spent 57 hours on a trolley and on a chair in a hall in University Hospital Limerick. In June 2015 two elderly ladies, both over a hundred years old, had to suffer the indignity of spending more than 24 hours on a trolley awaiting a hospital bed. In September 2015 an elderly cancer patient spent five days on a trolley at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda."

He said the crisis in the health system is escalating and accused the Government if failing to provide adequate investment to tackle the problem.

(CD/JP)