Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, David Cullinane TD, has criticised the failure of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to deliver enough reform and hospital beds to tackle the challenges in public hospitals.
He said that after 14 years of Fine Gael, and two-terms tied at the hip with Fianna Fáil, they have left the health service worse than they found it.
Teachta Cullinane pointed out that University Hospital Limerick and 9 other hospitals have already had more patients on trolleys so far this year than in the entirety of last year.
He added that more than 22,000 patients have been on trolleys in Limerick, more than 12,000 in Cork University Hospital, and more than 10,000 in Galway, with new heights also being hit in major hospitals such as the Mater, Beaumont, Connolly, and Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda.
Teachta Cullinane said:
“Our public hospitals and health professionals are in fierce difficulty this week as they face into yet another bleak winter, with no glimmer of hope on the horizon because they know that the work has not been done to tackle overcrowding in hospitals.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael continue to break all the wrong records in health care. The winter trolley crisis has become a year-round trolley crisis, and this week it hit new heights.
“University Hospital Limerick has already had more people on trolleys so far this year than in all of last year. The INMO has recorded more than 22,000 people so far this year on a trolley in Limerick.
“Cork University Hospital has had more than 12,000 people on trolleys so far this year and will surpass its total for 2023 by next week. More than 10,000 have been counted in Galway, already ahead of where it was at the end of last year by 1,000.
“According to the INMO, there have been more than 116,000 people on trolleys so far this year, meaning the total will come close if not ahead of last year’s 122,000.
“There are 10 hospitals which have had more patients on trolleys so far this year than in the entirety of last year – including the Mater, Beaumont, and Connolly in Dublin; and Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda, as well as several hospitals across Leinster and the midlands.
“The next government must invest in 5,000 hospital beds while delivering cost-effective reforms. The state has the finances to pay for these capital investments, and these projects must be fast-tracked.
“Crucially, the next Minister for Health must get health spending under control, tackle waste, deliver safe staffing, and ensure that the health budget is sustainable. Additional investment is needed to open more beds and deliver more services, but this can be partially paid for through increasing efficiency and clamping down on wasteful spending such as agency staffing, management consultants, and outsourcing.
“Hospital beds are needed but it is about more than just the beds and staff that hospitals need – we need fundamental reform of healthcare to deliver more care closer to home, in local communities and through GPs. That is why Sinn Féin would deliver a public GP contract.
“The next Minister for Health must deliver new GP services, 5,000 hospital beds, and a workforce plan for the health service. The stop-start approach has not worked. Recruitment embargoes don’t work. Workers do not feel valued or respected.
“Sinn Féin would engage with health workers and experts at home and abroad to train, recruit, retain, and return enough healthcare workers to safely staff the health service. We would implement a programme of reform, backed with savings targets and multi-annual funding, to set the course to eliminate overcrowding and deliver a world-class single-tier public health service.”
