Thousands of elderly patients were forced to wait over 24 hours in emergency departments according to new figures.
Some 4,349 over 75s endured day long waits for treatment in the first three months of 2019 alone according to figures obtained by Fianna Fail.
The data reveals that the HSE failed to meet their target of discharging or admitting all over 75s within 24 hours of registering at an ED.
Party health spokesman Stephen Donnelly said “the bar was set very low” when the target was first announced and that it had still “been missed literally thousands of times”.
Mr Donnelly said:“These figures are disgraceful and despite the fact that they have decreased on previous years, it’s still not acceptable to have some of our most vulnerable people treated in this manner.
He said that waiting in emergency departments was “wearying even for a person in the full of their health” amd said forcing overe 75s to wait like this was “further compounding their ill-health”.
He added: “A lack of basic bed capacity is a fundamental problem in health care in Ireland and if the Minister can’t get to grips with even the basic problems, three years into his tenure, then we are going to see thousands more over 75’s languish in A&E’s across the country”.
