Labour TD calls for separation of 'drunks' in A&E

Labour Party TD Mr Joe Costello has called for the introduction of a separation area in Accident and Emergency units nationwide for those who are intoxicated.

Mr Costello told ireland.comthat all hospitals need a "separation area for those who were in for excessive alcohol abuse or drug overdoses."

Mr Costello added that "vulnerable" patients, "particularly elderly people," should not have to risk being "berated" by unsociable elements in the A&E wards.

He also suggested that the issue of waiting lists on all levels, from GPs to consultants to hospital wards, needed to be urgently addressed.

After speaking with patients at the Mater Hospital this morning he said "the admission (to hospitals) was the problem. Once in, the service was second to none."

"There is a crisis situation," he added. "The minister is going to have to devise some sort of mechanism to ensure the log-jam is eased."

Labour Leader Pat Rabbitte and Deputy Leader Liz McManus accompanied Mr Costello to discuss bed and staff cuts with the chief executive of the Mater Hospital, Mr Martin Cowley.

He commended Mr Cowley and his staff on their success in closing 84 beds rather than the anticipated 115, but was quick to point out that it was only preventing the inevitable.

"There is no light at the end of the tunnel," he said, adding that the cramming of the A&E wards was "no way to handle the vulnerable."

Mr Costello described the fact that patients were made wait on trollies despite beds being available in locked wards as "unacceptable."

Having met the patients, who were "delighted" with the visit, in the Taoiseach's constituency, Mr Costello reiterated that it was essential that the issues of admission be addressed immediately.

"Everyone had a complaint to make about the incredible difficulty they had faced.

Mr Costello said the Minister of Health, Mr Martin, "is bewildered by the crisis", and accused the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, of "standing idly by while the main hospital in his own constituency is in crisis".