Taoiseach wants answers after elderly man left for 29 hours on hospital trolley
The Taoiseach Enda Kenny says he wants to personally find out who was responsible for allowing a 91-year-old man with Parkinson's Disease to remain on a hospital trolley for 29 hours.
Mr Kenny says the situation in Tallaght Hospital is unacceptable and he wants to know who was responsible for it.
The 91-year-old's situation has been raised in the Dáil, after it was highlighted by consultant Dr James Grey.
The Taoiseach said he understands the pressures doctors face, but special cases deserve different treatment.
He told the Dáil: "I'd like to hear the response from the hospital, I'm not passing the buck here.
"The point is that anybody in an Accident & Emergency Department, if you have to make choices, you do not leave a 91-year-old on a trolley for 29 hours."
The hospital has released a statement saying that the patient "has expressed his appreciation for the standard of treatment" he got there.
The statement read: "Arising from concerns expressed by an elderly patient to senior management at Tallaght Hospital, an internal review is to be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the disclosure and characterisation of certain confidential patient information to national media in recent days.
"The patient in question has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the manner in which his personal clinical circumstances have been revealed and elements of his care misrepresented in media and other public channels over the past 24 hours.
"The patient, who suffers from a chronic condition requiring regular attendance at the hospital, has expressed his appreciation for the standard of treatment received throughout all his periods of care at Tallaght Hospital.
"While the Hospital apologises that the patient in question was subject to an unacceptable delay prior to being transferred to a ward bed on Monday, the hospital also has a strong duty of care to safeguard the interests of all its patients and will take necessary steps to ensure these are upheld at all times."
