A Kerry TD is calling on the health watchdog to carry out an inspection on the issues facing University Hospital Kerry's emergency department.
Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly says if the Minister for Health won’t address the crisis at UHK than HIQA's recommendations might refocus his attention.
He says it's not good enough and people are going to continue to suffer due to the lack of services available.
Deputy Pa Daly claims a diabetic man in his 70s was waiting in UHK's emergency department for over 12 hours with a bleeding wound.
He says the man, who's from Tralee town centre, had to wait 45 minutes for an ambulance after suffering damage to his toe due to an unobserved wound.
The Sinn Féin TD claims the man arrived at UHK's emergency department at 11pm and wasn't seen until 11.15 the next morning where his wound was dressed and he was sent home.
He says this is due to the fact that nobody has replaced the podiatrist at UHK who retired last year.
Deputy Daly says there's a real fear that elective surgeries will be moved from Kerry to Cork:
Deputy Daly says that despite visiting last week, Minister Donnelly hasn’t done anything to address the problems facing UHK and it’s unfair to place the burden on staff.
