Govt Accused Of 'Only Paying Lip Service' To Trolley Crises

The government has been accused of "only paying lip service" to addressing the trolley crisis, with Sinn Féin Junior Spokesperson on Finance Jonathan O'Brien calling for the immediate reopening of all closed beds in hospitals across the State.

Calling on the government, Deputy O'Brien said: "Since the start of 2018 there have been two significant political developments to address the trolley crisis, the publication of the 'bed capacity review' and the passing of a Sinn Féin motion proposing solutions to the crisis.

"However, to date there has been little or no action taken by the Government to implement either of the review or the Dáil motion. The situation is similar to the lack of attention given to the cross-party Slaintecare report.

"There appears to be no urgency from the Government to address the trolley crisis.

"This is in spite of the fact that nearly every single day there are enough patients to completely fill a level 4 hospital. For example, there are 649 patients on trolleys in hospitals throughout the State today. That's enough people on trolleys to fill the Mater Hospital.

"This also comes on the back of a record 714 patients on trolleys yesterday. We cannot stand by and pretend this is normal, it is not, and it never can be normalised.

"There are still a significant number of beds in hospitals around the State closed. These need to be immediately re-opened so that the numbers on trolleys can at least be stabilised in the short term.

"In the long term we need to see the implementation of the recommendations of the 'bed capacity review' in tandem with the Sláintecare report so the health service can be brought to a position where all who go through the doors of a hospital are given the correct care in the correct setting."

(MH/LM)