Health Minister Raises Alarm Over Urgent Care Issues in Hospitals Nationwide
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has expressed serious concerns about urgent and emergency care at hospitals in certain regions. She has written to the HSE, highlighting issues such as varying patient experiences based on location and day of the week, as well as persistently high numbers of patients on trolleys.
MacNeill praised University Hospital Limerick for its impressive weekend patient discharge rates, despite facing challenges. However, she warned the HSE about the heightened risk to patients if underlying issues are not promptly addressed. She has corresponded with HSE Chief Executive Officer Robert Watt about these matters.
The Minister's concerns extend to hospitals in the west and north west, including Letterkenny University Hospital, which has been experiencing difficulties in patient flow. She also raised alarm about St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin, where patients on trolleys exceeded expectations for over a third of August's days. MacNeill is set to write another letter to the HSE about urgent and emergency care in hospitals in the south and southwest.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill's primary objective is to ensure consistent, good patient flow across all hospitals to safeguard patient safety. She maintains that there should be a sustained focus on stabilizing the situation in the regions mentioned, and has urged the HSE to address these issues promptly and effectively.
