Violet Anne Wynne. Photograph: Natasha Barton
A CLARE TD has claimed the Government is refusing to answer her parliamentary questions on the training of staff in hospitals on sepsis.
Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne (IND) has said the Government is standing still and is hiding behind reports while the health system across the country lags behind.
Referencing the unpublished Clarke Report on the death of Shannon teenager, Aoife Johnston, Deputy Wynne stated this has put into writing the problems encountered by every person who has walked through University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
She said, “We have been promised reform – scheduled care was paused for three weeks to allow the system to ‘reset’ but all that does is push the health problem one step back down the line”.
Recent figures released by the Irish College of General Practitioners show Clare has 87 practising GPs, 68 per 100,000 people, significantly below the World Health Organisation recommendation of 100 per 100k. Waterford, has 129 GPs practising, making it one of only two counties in Ireland over the WHO minimum. “We are past the point where the training initiatives Minister Hildegard Naughton promised can help. We need investment in rural services, real follow through to make it enticing to set up in counties like Clare. If we cannot fix primary care, more people will report to emergency care, and it has become more and more clear that this government has no idea how to fix emergency care – but intends to hide that for as long as possible, as it outwaits an election”.
In a statement to The Clare Echo, Deputy Wynne claimed that when she attempted to highlight overcrowding at UHL before the Dáil’s summer recess that the Taoiseach, Simon Harris (FG) said he was waiting for reports to be drawn up before discussing the matter further.
“People are suffering as the government waits. Aoife Johnston’s death should have been a tragedy, a moment of no more. Instead the government refuses to answer my PQs asking if staff must be sepsis trained before taking to the floor, and hides behind Reports and resets that let this government delay admitting what we all know that the health system is, quite simply, shattered,” the Clarecastle based TD added.
