The current health crisis is at an all time low and it seems to be getting worse as an outraged mother has revealed that her son who suffers from cerebral palsy has disgracefully gone without food for more than 24 hours in Beaumont Hospital over the weekend.
The appalling story comes to light after 60 year old Phil White launched a scathing attack on the Government yesterday for “ignoring” vulnerable patients and not addressing the current staffing shortages in the nations hospitals. Mrs White has spoken of how her son Darrell aged 28 had gone a full day without food because there were no doctors to feed him. Mrs White told reporters that her son a life long cerebral palsy suffer was left to starve after doctors failed to feed him through a tube which he had installed as a young boy. Mrs White said that her son needs medical attention regularly because his tube collapses more than once a year and has to be replaced with a new one immediately so he can continue to receive his medication, food and liquids.
Mrs White from Killester, North Dublin, told the media: “This is the way the Government treats the elderly and the vulnerable nowadays. “Trying to keep Darrell alive is a constant battle. You need to go in a stretcher near death to be seen by a doctor. It’s not the staff’s fault, it’s years of bad policies. “The last time we fed him was around 6pm on Saturday and we were told we couldn’t get the tube fed until today(Sunday). We don’t know when it will be done.” A distraught and angry Mrs White who has taken care of her son on a full-time basis since birth believes more should be done to help the vulnerable but believes the government are not properly addressing the situation. Mrs White went onto say although she would do all she can for her son she does admit it is getting increasingly difficult for herself and her husband Joseph, who is now in his 70s, to look after him.
However the loving mother added her son’s happiness is the only reason she still has the strength to fight for his health and care, saying: “We’re not great, he’s kept us going. He’s decided to keep fighting so we are there for him. We love him to bits. And we think he deserves every opportunity and chance that anyone else would get.”