Fine Gael’s A&E proposals put students’ lives at risk

by Mike Tue Jun 12, 2007 22:25

Are they going to breathalyse everyone in A&E ? And why hasn’t it entered into anyone’s thick inbred skull that

1) A person who is drunk is just as likely to suffer sickness or injury (unrelated to their being drunk) as a sober person
2) A a drunk person is as likely to be the victim of an crime as to be the perpetrator of it
3) Sober people carry out assaults as well
4) Several medical conditions can be mistken for drunkenness

Im all for throwing the book at those (drunk or otherwise) who cause trouble in A&E but making drunkeness a crime in itself is pure idiocy

by David Somebody - none Thu Dec 29, 2005 18:44

The scarcity of good minds in our current government is alarming, let alone the opposition!! The mind boggles.

by X-Factor Hater Thu Dec 29, 2005 14:06

It's really a security problem, extra charges are unfair and will probably mean poorer people will be afraid to attend. Perhaps putting their lives at risk

by voice of reason Thu Dec 29, 2005 13:43

The proposals are not putting anyone at risk.
If you're drunk it doesn't mean you will pay extra or won't be treated.
These proposals only kick in if you are uninjured.
Hospital A&E rooms are constantly inhabited by drunks who have nothing wrong with them.
Or maybe they are accompanying someone and they become abusive.
Get them out I say.
Casualty is unbearable enough without some drunk arsehole shouting at hospiatl staff,
If you're genuinely injured you'll be treated.

by iosaf - "my head hurts & I haven't slept in 2 days" Wed Dec 28, 2005 13:17

Here were the articles on nursing in 2005 a year in which the pathetic condition of ireland's health system excited protests from nurses and doctors, patients and IT professionals alike. It was the year of losing "pittances".


* Feb. 7 "Patient Together offer our full support to the I.N.O should their members Protest
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=68520
* The IMO wer unhappy with Harney by late March early April :- "Now it's the doctors turn to ask "what have you done"?"
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69192
* April 11th - 14th
the Nurses launched "enough is enough" interestingly they didn't look for much solidarity : "Enough is Enough" (3 articles one for each hospital A&E they picketed)
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69250
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69368
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69502
then our own Mr Sherlock got pictures of them -
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69506
* Tobie got a thump on the head in August and reported his emergency and accident aftercare (& it was so good it became a feature!!! [be encouraged])
"No Time For These Small Details In Emergency"
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=71308

By October I for one was utterly aghast. Naturally my da was in a hospice & it sort of made me wonder about the quality of health care back home in the celtic tiger state that reared me to be a mover & shaker of Europe and all.
.http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=72318

by Seán Ryan Wed Dec 28, 2005 04:15

Typical shite from a party that should have seen the back of the shovel long ago.

It's typical of these morons, and the whole collective who idle in the Dáil, to come up with a solution, that involves removing a service from those who require it, rather than improving, or bringing up to standard the service to suit our needs.

It's like another indirect taxation, and more to the point its implementation, and red tape, when up and running, will always drain the fund for a health service, and since that's dead already, it's a case of flogging a dead horse.

It is because of this, that I believe the poster child for the health service (minister), will welcome Fine Gael's stupidity with open grasping arms.

I wonder, will this set a trend in future health management planning?

Why not ban having fun?

You are more likely to hurt yourself if you are moving.

Wanna know the solution?

Stop electing monkies to represent you.

Sláinte,

Seán Ryan.

by Bryan Wed Dec 28, 2005 03:39 green.socialist at yahoo dot ie

Once again they manage to come up with a downright stupid proposal, just like their whinging about Anti-Social Behavior and pretending to care about suicide.

by spider - anti organisation(s) Wed Dec 28, 2005 02:28

excuse me doctor, i've been brutally beaten and left for dead, can you look at this gushing hole on my neck please?
sure son, just breathe into this breathalyser here...
hold on a second.. how many drinks have you had tonight? you probably started that fight, you bloody well deserve everything you got.. it's young punks like you who are ruining our health service, get the hell out of my ward!

by DR WHO Wed Dec 28, 2005 00:20

What medic in their sane senses would attempt to refuse treatment or to offer superficial attention to an APPARENTLY drunk person ?

Answer ; A grossly negligent one.

Incidentally, whilst I have little sympathy for drunks you can never be totally sure how an individual came to be in a particular state without a proper assessment.

Waiting until the next morning before deciding whether or not to attend A & E is a bad idea. If you puke and are insensible you may well get straight to the morgue thus avoiding the usual delays in A & E.

Sober up Fine Gael and have yourselves scanned for evidence of intelligent life within your body !!

by rts! 999 / 911 / I told you it was poisonous / Tue Dec 27, 2005 22:50

Most avoidable accidents occur on the roads due to careless driving. After that accidents at work feature highest. It really is quite remarkable how few people end up in A&E with a kitchen implement up their arse or a saucepot stuck on their head. So I've remarked on it. Of course we all have problems with internal organs on occasion. & sometimes you _do_ wonder about the nature of toxicity in that recent insect bite,- is it really scrofulous? but quite honestly the idea of penalising the causes of A&E is one we have debated seriously albeit unknowingly for much time. Time to widen the net. Its not just your mate with the dodgey MDMA/GBH who needs to be warned, its all the users of motorised transport who all to often kill as well send their victims to A&E.

The only way of tackling these problems is head-on.

If you walk into A&E you are most probably sincere or lonely or accompanying someone else; each a valid reason (most probably). If you arrive into A&E in either an ambulance or garda car you may consider yourself "special" and probably aren't going to leave with just an aspirin/valium. If you bring your child to A&E you probably are already listed as "sincere" or maybe you're a Munchausen snydrome monster (is there a wider social "what A&E really means" question?).
But if you drive into A&E or are brought into A&E after driving others, or others are brought into A&E as a result of your driving - then you're a bad fucker. Worst than an austrian. You'd probably be a FF minister. Because of course FG don't have one.

by intern - (iosaf leftovers christmas is commercial, I'm bored, nothing on telly) Tue Dec 27, 2005 22:25

if its not an accident and its not an emergency then its not A&E.
Drunk people have more accidents than sober people. That gives them a statistical edge, one would expect to find more drunk people in A&E and properly so.
Most people in A&E are not there for an emergency. Waking up with a hangover and going to A&E is not an emergency. If you want to get into A&E on the "emergency" clause then you really need to do something *cardiac *neurological or damage your body in a way which can not properly be treated 24-72 hours later under Irish law. (possible examples : get pregnant unwantedly, lose a limb, swallow all your mates tabs of ecstasy).
Thus may we see with the application of mathematical science, a bit of a tippy toppy degree, very low pay and as usual bloody humour -

One ought to find drunk and fucked up people in A&E. You're not drunk or fucked up, GO HOME.

by Anon Tue Dec 27, 2005 22:09

Drunks should stay at home and sleep it off. If they're still in pain in the morning, they can go to the A&E and be received like anyone else in need.
My advice though to students and others on low incomes is to STOP WASTING ALL YOUR MONEY on drink!