Cllr Anthony Kelly has asked the Mayor of Wexford town to organise a meeting between a deputation from Wexford Borough Council and the Management of Wexford General Hospital to discuss the overcrowding situation at the hospital. The Sinn Féin councillor says he was forced to contact Mayor Davy Hynes and ask for the emergency meeting following growing concerns over the adverse effects of budget restraints on staff and patients at Wexford General.
Cllr Kelly said;
“Once again a lack of beds for sick patients is causing mayhem at our local hospital. Recently there has been a daily average of twenty five patients left on trolleys there. We know that these figures reached record heights in August. This is completely unacceptable and repulsive when you consider that we have two Wexford TDs who were elected on the back of campaigns to retain vital services at Wexford General Hospital. Obviously services have not been retained when patients are being treated in atrocious conditions which will clearly impede their recovery. That is why I am calling for an emergency meeting between a delegation from Wexford Borough Council and the management of Wexford General Hospital.”
“Once again I must praise the staff at Wexford General who continue to provide excellent service under the strenuous conditions. It seems the Fine Gael/ Labour government expect them to be miracle workers instead of medical workers. How else can they justify continuingly removing and downgrading services while expecting patients to still be treated with the same capability as always? Thirty nine beds are currently closed at your our local hospital. If these beds were available, then patients would not have to risk their recovery as they go through the humiliating ordeal of trolley treatment.”
“The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation are laying the blame on increased numbers of patients receiving treatment on trolleys on the volume of acute bed closures, the reduction in long term care beds, and cutbacks in community based services. The HSE promised the people of County Wexford that their last cutbacks would be temporary and have no real adverse effect on treatment of patients at Wexford General. However, there has been a 250% jump in trolley patients at Wexford hospital between August 2010 and August 2011. I would say that those figures constitute an adverse affect on patient treatment.”
“Wexford Sinn Féin is calling on Mayor Hynes to schedule this meeting, and for members of Wexford Borough Council and the management of Wexford General Hospital to accept. We cannot bury our heads in the sand. This situation has to be dealt with before anymore damage is done to patients and staff at our hospital.”
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