Independent TD Mattie McGrath has said that the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, should immediately resign from his position after the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said that the number of patients on trolleys has reached a ten year high this morning. Deputy McGrath was speaking after the INMO confirmed that 760 patients were on trolleys today, with South Tipperary General being one of the worst affected facilities with approximately 40 patients waiting for a bed:
“In August, the INMO confirmed there had been an enormous 173% increase in the number of patients on trolleys compared with July 2006. Those statistics also revealed that the number of patients waiting on trolleys at South Tipp General this July was 509 – a 54% increase from the same point last year.
We now have confirmation that the situation is even more dire than we had previously thought possible with the numbers of patients on trolleys reaching a ten year high.
I therefore reiterate the point that I have been making for some time; we have a Minister for Health and a health service executive who are driving the hospital system over a cliff through reckless and grossly incompetent mismanagement.
What is it going to take for this Minister to realise that he has been an absolute disaster for our health service and that he should go immediately?
If he does not go then the Taoiseach, who is keeping him in his role despite any evidence of competency, should fire him.
For all intents and purposes there is now a full scale health emergency within our hospitals. That is why serious consideration should also be given to recalling the Dáil so that we can at least have some sense of political accountability for the appalling scenarios that patients and front line staff are having to endure on a daily basis,” concluded Deputy McGrath.
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