Michael Fitzmaurice TD has criticised the HSE and associated Minister following two recent incidents which are causing distress to people in the Roscommon and East Galway area.
In a statement released today the Independent TD said “I want to raise the serious matter of the case of a constituent of mine who has spent 14 months in hospital recently. This man is severely disabled and prior to being hospitalised he lived quite happily in his own home with the aid of the health services available to him. However since he was released from hospital he has missed two hospital appointments because there was no ambulance available to bring him, and he was only informed the day before or on the day of the appointment. For one appointment the ambulance was late, and when the man arrived at the hospital the clinics had ended. This man has another appointment next Thursday for Roscommon Hospital but he has been told to call on Wednesday to see if there is an ambulance available (to bring him).”
“Do these Ministers live in the real world?”
Michael Fitzmaurice continued “What sort of a situation is this? Here we have a consultant waiting, an ambulance is booked a week in advance but now there is no guarantee of that appointment going ahead. It’s completely unacceptable. Is Minister Finian McGrath the Minister for people with disabilities, Simon Harris, who is the Minister for Health, and Minister Helen McEntee, who deals with Mental Health issues, aware that this is going on? This was brought to the attention of the previous Minister many times so they should know. They have stood up in the Dail many times criticising the health system and what needs to be done but as far as I’m concerned they are turning a blind eye to what’s going on. Do these Ministers live in the real world or are they worried about these people at all? At the end of the day if these people are looked after and brought to their appointments when they should be brought, it might prevent them from being in hospital for 14 months at a time and save money in the long run” he concluded.
The second issue which Michael Fitzmaurice raised was that of an administrative error which will a number of families transporting their children with severe disabilities to School. The Independent TD said “It has come to my attention that children in this constituency with severe disabilities and who would be starting back to school in September, and who are brought to school by their parents, are being disadvantaged by a lack of efficiency in the HSE. Three specially adapted chairs for these children were to be ordered on the 1st of June, but I understand now that clerical officers in the HSE, who were to send e-mails to order these chairs, did not do their job, and now the chairs that these children need will not be ready in time. The HSE are offering an alternative chairs that are not nearly as good as the ones that should have been ordered. The question that I would ask is why are these people not dong their job?”
“If they do not do their job there are repercussions for these children and that cannot be tolerated. The finance is in place for these chairs and equipment and I am assured of that, and everything was in place, and the least we should expect is that these people do their job properly. I am calling on Minister Harris to investigate what went on here and if there are people who did not attend to the job that they should be doing then they are not fit for that position and the Minister should take appropriate action” concluded Michael Fitzmaurice.