Letters to the Editor: CUH patients need to hear minister’s solutions rather than just criticism

'If the minister believes CUH is being poorly managed, the public deserves to know what she and Government intend to do about it'

'My 83-year-old mother, who had dementia, spent her first 24 hours on a trolley in a corridor outside the X-ray department before being admitted to a six-bed geriatric ward,' writes Catherine McAuliffe. Stock picture Dan Linehan

I feel compelled to respond to minister for health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill’s criticism of Cork University Hospital, reported in the Irish Examiner on October 23.

Comparing hospitals without properly accounting for differences in demand, geographical reach, funding and where recently recruited staff have actually been allocated presents an incomplete picture. Many of the additional CUH posts cited by the minister relate to the new surgical hub rather than filling longstanding staffing gaps in existing services.