Over 1,200 Patients Left Naas General Emergency Department Without Being Seen In First Five Months Of 2023

This compares to over 900 in the same five-month period in 2018

Some 1,269 patients left Naas General Hospital Emergency Department without being seen in first five months of the year,  according to data from the HSE.

This 1269 compares to 903 in the same five-month period in 2018.

Deputy  Réada Cronin said the worrying numbers are failing the public and failing the outstanding and overworked staff at Naas General Hospital, who show enormous skill, care and commitment to the community locally.

Réada Cronin is calling on the Minister for Health to do two things urgently

1. Carry out an immediate review of the Emergency Department capacity at Naas General Hospital
2. Invest immediately in badly-needed community-based alternatives such as out-of-hours GP and late-night pharmacy.

The Sinn Féin TD for Kildare North commented: “This is a damning increase in people needing medical help at our local Emergency Department, but due to the unacceptably long waiting times, leaving before they can get it.

"The average wait time at Naas General Hospital so far this year is 8 hours, which is way too long for so many people, especially our elderly. It’s also way too long for the outstanding and overworked staff who want to get to them and treat them as quickly as possible.

"It’s a barrier to them using their vital skills that needs to go

“Obviously, we need more GPs in our community, we need more beds and more staff at Naas General Hospital to get the waiting times down. But as a community we need the kind of modern and available services that will keep people away from ED in the first instance, whether that is for a consult or treating a minor injury.

"People are showing up to ED because they simply have nowhere else to go. This is bad for the public and bad for the medical staff at our hospital.”

"We need to make public health work and housing work, so our nurse and doctor graduates will stay on at home instead of being forced to emigrate. We don’t have enough GPs.

"All over North Kildare people are struggling to register with one. Practices are bursting at the seams. They simply cannot take on any more patients and this puts more pressure on our overworked EDs.”

“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have brought the health service to its knees. Hospitals and their staff are reeling from a decade of government neglect and underinvestment but at the same time they see record levels of spending on outsourcing to the private sector instead of building our public capacity.

"It is unfair, it is a waste of money and it is old-fashioned. It does not fit with the expectations of the public who are anxious to have proper, modern public services that are there for them when they need them.”

“The Minister for Health needs to get up and get to grips with this crisis," she added.