10 August 2020
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
“Urgent Investment needed to Protect Ireland’s Health” – says TD Pat Buckley
Cork East Sinn Féin TD Pat Buckley has said that “urgent investment is needed to protect our health services”.
The party this week unveiled a €1.9 billion plan to protect capacity in the health service.
Deputy Buckley said:
“Our health service is facing a perfect storm. Patients and health care workers need our support.
“We have a plan for reopening the economy, we have a plan for reopening schools.
“Now we need a realistic plan to protect Ireland’s health.
“Sinn Féin has proposed a €1.9 billion plan to protect capacity in the health service.
“Every option has to be on the table, and workers need to be guaranteed certainty in their employment.
“We need to expand physical infrastructure through space in the community, repurposing space in acute hospitals, expanding space through modular units, and leveraging at-cost capacity in the private sector.
“Covid-19 has exposed a decades-long failure to build a public health system that has enough doctors, nurses and beds.
“Pre-Covid, our health system was in crisis. Now, it is under pressure on several fronts: overworked staff, Covid care, non-Covid care, catching-up on delayed care, a vast reduction in capacity, and the looming winter flu.
“There are now more than 700,000 people on waiting lists, and this will continue to grow. We could lose from 20 to 40% bed capacity.
“Front Line Staff are at burnout and cannot continue to work overtime in understaffed conditions. This is not safe or fair for staff or patients.
“This is an emergency; it needs emergency response.”
The Sinn Fein TD for Cork East Pat Buckley
