DON’T JUDGE US ON TROLLEYS
Taoiseach says he has put back the beds taken away by FF
‘There’s a lot of work we need to do’
THE Taoiseach has pleaded with the electorate not to judge the Government’s performance in the health sector based on the record number of patients lying on hospital trolleys.
The number of patients on trolleys across the country reached record levels earlier this month, with 3,143 patients not having a bed during the first week of the year, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).
The crisis in healthcare is set to dominate discussions throughout the general election campaign.
However, Leo Varadkar yesterday insisted that overcrowded hospitals shouldn’t define his party’s record.
When asked by this newspaper if he believed people who had spent time on trolleys in hospitals would vote for Fine Gael, he said there was more to healthcare provision than overcrowding, which he conceded was a serious issue.
He said: ‘First of all, I want to acknowledge the enormous difficulties we have in our health service; there’s a lot of work we need to do to improve our health service.
‘What I would say to people is that we shouldn’t just judge our hospitals by overcrowding, which is a very serious and real issue.’
The Taoiseach dissolved the Dáil on Tuesday in the face of a proposed no-confidence motion in Minister for Health Simon Harris that would have been tabled by rural TD Michael Collins if the Dáil had returned, as scheduled, yesterday.
Mr Varadkar’s Government looked almost certain to lose any confidence motion, after losing the backing of a number of TDs.
Despite being in power since 2011, and having served as Minister for Health from 2014 to 2016, Mr Varadkar pointed the finger of blame at his rivals, Fianna Fáil.
He said: ‘We are putting beds into the system. Fianna Fáil took hundreds out, we’re putting hundreds back in, three new hospitals under construction at the moment, but we shouldn’t just judge our health service based on overcrowding.
‘And you know patients don’t because when we ask patients about their experience, 81% say they had a good experience or a very good experience.’
Mr Varadkar pointed to the reduction in the number waiting for operations and procedures nationwide from 70,000 to 35,000 in the last two-and-a-half years as an achievement of his government.
He said: ‘That’s because of the investment we’ve put in to the health service which is making a difference, but to really put things right, it’s going to take years and years of sustained reform.’ He added that the ‘possibility is there now for us to do that’ if ‘we stick to our economic policy’.