Sir, – I’m astounded that the Minister of Health thinks that appointing 50 extra emergency department (ED) consultants is going to help our chronic hospital crisis (“50 new consultants to be appointed to emergency departments to tackle trolley crisis”, News, August 19th).
While we would all welcome increased availability of expertise in ED, unless the Minister has a stash of consultants stored away somewhere these posts are not going to be filled and even if filled will only have a very limited effect on the crisis.
The problem is not an ED one but involves the whole health system. The only patients who need to be in hospital are sick ones. Patients generally do not need to be hospitalised for investigations. Patients seen in outpatient areas and admitted patients should both have prompt investigations facilitating early treatment and discharge. The equipment is available 24/7 but the staff aren’t. Primary care is beginning to fail and should be resourced appropriately and allowed access to investigations.
Because of a lack of community staff, patients have a prolonged stay in hospital awaiting homecare packages.
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The system is seriously dysfunctional and doing things the same old way is not going to yield meaningful results. Enhancing diagnostic services imaginatively and making a career in homecare more attractive would be a good start. – Yours, etc,
Prof KEN MULPETER,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.