THE NUMBER of people on hospital trolleys was down 40 per cent on the previous year in the four months to last December, Minister for Health James Reilly told the Dáil.

He said that was a 70 per cent turnaround which was a cause for cautious optimism, although he knew the trolley count could rise significantly again if serious problems occurred in the health services.

“Nonetheless, the initiatives taken by special delivery unit, SDU and hard-working doctors and nurses working in a different way in hospitals with support from management, are yielding results,” he added.

Warning against the use of “rhetoric and hyperbole” in assessing the issue, Dr Reilly said the trolley count, week after week and month after month up to August last year, was 30 per cent higher than in the preceding year.

The special unit, headed by Dr Martin Connor, was formed in June and became operational in September. Week on week, the numbers had fallen since.

Dublin South Central People Before Profit TD Joan Collins asked if the Minister was saying that a further €1.5 billion in cuts would deliver a much-needed service, despite more people needing access to hospitals and some 3,000 healthcare workers leaving the system.

“He has mentioned the reduction in the trolley count, but we have heard from those on the ground that patients are being taken from accident and emergency departments to wards to pretend that there is not the same volume of traffic,” she added. “This has been reported as true by workers on the front line.”

Ms Collins said that while the Minister could play with figures, the reality was not as he stated.

Dr Reilly said the Government’s health policy would be based on the evidence available.

“I challenge the deputy to go to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation trolley count site and measure the results,” he added.

“The figures indicated have been agreed by the organisation and us.”

Dr Reilly said there were differences in one or two areas between the union and the department.