Madam, – I have read with interest the accounts from two patients who recently attended the A & E department in Tallaght hospital. Their experiences are not new to us and neither is their praise of the dedication shown by the medical and nursing staff. The long waits endured on trolleys have been in existence for some time. However, figures which were obtained by Deputy Eamonn Maloney (Labour) from the HSE last week can shed light on why this is so. The figures show that Tallaght hospital in 2010 dealt with more inpatients, outpatients and A E attendances than any other Dublin teaching hospital.
Tallaght hospital had more than 93,000 A & E attendees in 2010. Beaumont hospital came second with 59,000! However both Tallaght and Beaumont have the same number of A & E consultants.Indeed Tallaght hospital has the lowest number of permanent consultant posts of the five Dublin teaching hospitals despite the figures which show that Tallaght hospital is now the busiest hospital in the State.
Minister for Health James Reilly’s new plan for funding the health service will provide money that will “follow the patient”. I’m sure the staff and patients of Tallaght hospital will be mightily relieved when the budget for the hospital will finally and adequately reflect its workload. – Yours, etc,