Almost 2,500 appointments have been cancelled at Tipperary’s main hospital since the beginning of the year.
Sinn Féin TD Martin Browne has raised concerns saying that dysfunction across the health service is driving a vicious cycle of overcrowding, cancellations, and long waits.
Last month alone there were 712 appointments cancelled at Tipperary University Hospital which is a 42% increase on the number for April of last year.
The Cashel Deputy says a multi-annual plan is needed to expand hospital capacity and develop a sustainable workforce.
“If there’s an urgency out of Government and make the necessary investment in both hospital care and community care we can start addressing these. We’ve seen with the likes of St Brigid’s in Carrick on Suir and other areas that they’re taking community beds out of it – out of local communities – they’re not increasing home help hours and there doesn’t seem to be any push in implementing Slainte Care reforms.
Deputy Martin Browne has called for the HSE to be held accountable for the growing waiting lists in hospitals across the country.
The Cashel TD says the Health Service Executive is not using its financial allocation properly.
“We’ve seen it now on numerous occasions that the HSE don’t seem to be accountable. We all appreciate that there is probably more than enough money going into the health system but it’s the way its being spent. It’s crazy that we keep repeating the same things over and over again and we just see the waiting lists getting longer and longer.”
