Stop the excuses over lack of action on health

AT WHAT point is the spasm of helplessness going to end in our health service? Yesterday was another “black day” as we reached a historic new low regarding the number of patients left waiting on trolleys. Some 714 patients languished on trolleys awaiting admission to a hospital bed. But despite all the “black days” recorded, nothing is changing.

Is it possible the suffering of patients is not registering with the Government? The Taoiseach and Health Minister should not think for a moment that such levels of anguish or discomfort are anything but a national scandal. Doctors and nurses are at the end of their tether frustrated and exhausted by continually being asked to do the impossible. Among those awaiting admission were 15 children.

The situation is so dire that INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha described it as “unsafe”. She has called on the HSE to cease all elective or non-urgent admissions. She wants a declaration that the country’s hospitals were now “in complete crisis”. An Irish Medical Organisation spokesman said the situation was the result of the Government failing to properly fund the health system and thus was entirely predictable.

Being forced to manage the dysfunctional and the abnormal has become routine for health workers. We know the problem is a lack of beds, we can do nothing about the weather but beds and staff to make our hospitals fit for purpose should not be beyond the Government. The need to enhance primary and social care services for patients’ care, to take the pressure off hospitals, has been spoken about for long enough.

A man aged 64 is believed to have spent 109 hours on a trolley. Yesterday, Simon Harris was blaming the weather for the latest crisis. But that is not good enough. We need something more than excuses. We have had reports and capacity reviews and no action.