Simon Harris: Chaotic Emergency Department had impact on me

Health Minister Simon Harris has described how walking through a chaotic scene of injured and sick patients on trolleys in the Emergency Department (ED) at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) had “a real impact” on him.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, there were 32 patients on trolleys in the Limerick ED — the highest number recorded in the country — as Mr Harris to witness the extent of the ongoing hospital trolley crisis.

Mr Harris said the scene that met him inside the hospital left him “in no doubt we need the new ED as quickly as possible”.

After touring the Limerick ED, so he could see “the full picture”, Mr Harris said: “It’s extraordinarily difficult for staff and patients.”

A new, larger, emergency department for Limerick, due to be opened in April or May next year, is a month behind schedule due to contractor delays, the minister added.

After negotiating Limerick ED, Mr Harris said: “It had an impact on me, there’s no point in saying anything else. I’m very conscious as minister for health that I can’t do my job by just sitting behind a desk in Dublin. That’s why I have visited around 20 hospitals since I took up my job about five months ago.”

He said he was “struck by the exceptional care” staff continued to give patients, “despite the ED’s most difficult of physical circumstances”.

“It’s clearly too small,” said Mr Harris. “It has a low roof and packed corridors. The staff are doing a great job. It can’t be an easy environment to work in.”

He hinted that the Government was committed to a “huge” health spend in next week’s budget, to help address current problems with recruitment and retention of nurses, and create better working environments for staff.

“We’re now back in a period of reinvestment in our health service,” said Mr Harris. “After years of having to cut health budgets we’ve seen the HSE budget increase this year. I expect the budget will show a massive commitment to the health service, with a huge level of funding for the coming year.”

He described nurses as “the backbone of the health service”, and while he acknowledged the barriers to attracting home Irish nurses and doctors who had emigrated, he said the Government was committed to investing in staff.

“We are investing in facilities and [jobs], converting agency posts into full-time permanent posts,” said Mr Harris. “This is a real journey and we won’t get there overnight, but I’m absolutely committed to doing this.”