Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is being called on to immediately review his Winter Health Plan Initiative as it is a level of ‘National Crisis’.
The Chairperson of the Western Regional Health Forum Cllr Gerry Mc Monagle, is calling on the Health Minister to act urgently as Emergency Departments are being overrun and Ambulance Services are being stretched.
The Winter Initiative Plan was an attempt to lower hospital admissions and promote patient flow across all healthcare settings in the Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo region this winter.
The joint plan saw the recruitment of more emergency consultants and more staff at Letterkenny University Hospital to support and target the discharge of patients at weekends.
However, Councillor Mc Monagle said “It’s quite clear for anyone to see that it is not working and needs to be better resourced.
“This is a National Crisis with hospital Emergency Departments right around the country being over run with sick patients and not enough Staff or Beds to meet the demand.
“This is also having an effect on our Ambulance Services with many of them tied up at Emergency Departments with patients which is putting our ambulance services under intense pressure to provide the necessary cover.
“Minister Donnelly must now urgently Review his Winter Initiative Plan. He must look at all the medical services available to him and make extra resources available to hospitals and GPs to address this crisis. If not, then this crisis will only increase in the weeks ahead. Steps must be taken now by the Minister and the Government before our health service crashes.
“Our Doctors & Nurses are under extreme pressure trying to meet the demand. They are at their wits end and exhausted. That is why I am calling on the Minister to intervene now and call a crisis meeting to review his Winter Plan and put in place the extra resources needed to avert a catastrophe in our health service this Winter.”
