Hospital emergency units will not be closed, says Tanaiste

There is no question of closing emergency departments throughout the State, Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald has said.

She told the Dáil it was important to reassure people the work under way was about developing a national trauma policy and getting the best outcomes for a particular small category of patients who sustained traumatic injuries.

Ms Fitzgerald, who was taking Opposition Leaders' Questions, said Minister for Health Simon Harris had not yet received a report commissioned on the issue.

“Currently, there are no plans to close or remove trauma services from hospitals,’’ Ms Fitzgerald said.

Examine

However, she said, it was extremely important to examine the best way to deal with people suffering from a particular type of trauma and where was the best place to bring a person with, for example, a head injury after a car crash.

“It might not be the nearest emergency department but a specialist trauma centre,’’ said Ms Fitzgerald.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said there was incredible overcrowding at emergency departments throughout the State, with more than 400 people on trolleys.

“Based on this report, there will be regions without emergency departments if this trend continues,’’ he said.

There was the potential in the east, said Mr Martin, of nothing between Waterford and Dublin, with Kilkenny and Wexford taken out. There would be nothing between Tullamore in the midlands and Tallaght in Dublin, he said.

"The problem is that emergency departments in Dublin simply cannot cope and are bursting at the seams,'' he said. "In Cork, there have been closures in the South Infirmary, Mallow and Bantry down through the years.''