A spokesperson for Tallaght Hospital told the Daily Mail that official figures show the man was waiting on a trolley for 27 hours, while his wife was waiting for 8 and a half hours.
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Asked about the suggestion that the consultant, Jim Gray (who wrote an email in relation to the situation in Tallaght) should be sanctioned for his actions Varadkar said that “what matters here is the patient”.
The statement made no reference to any inquiry into the circumstances of severe overcrowding which contributed to the delay in getting both patients a hospital bed.
Enda Kenny said the coalition had provided extra resources to resolve the trolley crisis, but a few people were resisting change.
“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”.
“It is only a matter of time before we disclose our next crowding-related death at Tallaght Hospital while crowding is tolerated”.
The Health Minister says it’s indefensible that any patient should spend more than 24 hours on a trolley in the Emergency Department.
In June, there was controversy when a 101-year-old woman spent 26 hours on a trolley at the hospital.
He said it was important that patient confidentiality be respected.
“After nearly five years of botched structural reform and bodus budgets that have been proven to be fanciful in the extreme we still have elderly patients in their 90s languishing on trolleys in hospital corridors”.
“It is a proven fact that remaining on a trolley after this point is risky for patients and increases both mortality and morbidity risk for patients”, Dr Hickey said.
In the note, the Daily Mail reports that the consultant warned that patients on trolleys “have no privacy or dignity”, they are subjected to “constant noise torture, light torture and sleep deprivation”, which are a “clear violation of human rights”.
Dr Walley added: “We have increased demand, reduced services and insufficient numbers of staff. We are struggling to keep doctors in Ireland, there are over 200 vacant consultant posts many of which have been advertised with no applicants responding”.
The Taoiseach said the case was “a shocking example of a dysfunctionality in the system”.
Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation General Secretary Liam Doran has said that overcrowding has never been greater than it has been this year and not enough is being done to address it.
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Thirty-four were in Tallaght – on a par with University Hospital Limerick and second only for the worst record to St Vincent’s in Dublin with 35 patients on trolleys.
