Thousands leave Tallaght Hospital without being seen

TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said it is an indictment of the ruin that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have inflicted on the health service that thousands of people would leave the Emergency Department of Tallaght University Hospital without being seen due to the sheer length of delays.
 
Teachta Crowe said “3,510 people walked out of the Emergency Department of Tallaght University Hospital between January and May of this year without even being seen due to the sheer length of delays. “People go to hospital because they need help. More people are leaving Tallaght Hospital without that help than they are in whole hospital groups in the rest of the state.
 
“And it’s no wonder when the average time to be seen for over 75’s was 22 hours. Leaving an elderly person on a chair in a waiting area for practically a full day should never be the norm. it should be something we are outraged could ever happen at all. “It is no use for the Government to brag about billions of a budget surplus if we do not drive it into our public services in a meaningful, effective way that improves access for all our citizens.
 
“Tallaght Hospital has been pushing for a new 72 bed unit for the past six years. This Government is just too slow to realise demand and respond to it which means it is ordinary people in need of help that suffer when our frontline healthcare professionals do what they can with what little they are given.”