HEALTH MINISTER RESPONDS TO GALWAY TROLLEY FIGURES

Date Published: 18-Jan-2012

The Minister for Health says the number of people waiting on trolleys at hospitals around the country is falling.

That's despite new figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation which show that University Hospital Galway has experienced a 60 percent rise in the past year.

Minister James Reilly says the figures improved after the introduction of the Special Delivery Unit in September.

And he says funding for the S-D-U will continue - in order to help hospitals gain control of their waiting times:

Meanwhile, the INMO wants a more focused approach by the 'Special Delivery Unit' to improve overcrowding at Galway public hospitals.

There were just over 4 thousand people recorded on trolleys at UHG in 2010 compared to 6 and a half thousand last year.

Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe also experienced a rise in trolley figures jumping from 840 in 2010 to 941 in 2011.