Harris calls for greater effort to assist patients on trolleys

Minister for Health Simon Harris has called for a greater effort to assist hospital patients on trolleys. He told the Seanad that behind every trolley number there was a patient in need of effective, timely and compassionate care from the health service.

“We must all try harder across the health service and do more to improve the experience of every single one of these patients.’’

He said he was very conscious of the unacceptably high number of patients on trolleys at the beginning of the year. He was glad to report that while numbers remained far too high, they had reduced more recently, and now remained consistently lower than each of the corresponding days of last year.

“In fact, the number of people on trolleys in January this year, although far too high, is lower than the number of people on trolleys in January last year.’’

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Senator Keith Swanick (FF) said the problems in secondary care would never be rectified until primary care was adequately resourced. "To that end we need to reinvest our efforts in training more young GPs, practice nurses and community health nurses.''

Senator Colm Burke (FG) said a 1960 report had set out clearly what needed to be done in Cork, including the provision of two major hospitals. "We built one, but we do not even have a site for the second.''

Senator Máire Devine (SF) said it was time it was accepted the health service was on “a dodgy life support in intensive care’’. Yesterday, she said, 520 citizens were lying on trolleys throughout the State.

Senator Frances Black (Independent) said if the problems in the mental services were addressed, it could reduce the pressure on hospital beds.