Several chairs in the waiting room of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital A&E Department have remained broken for over six months, despite the department being regularly overcrowded.

“This is not just about furniture—it is a symptom of a deeper issue within our healthcare system, where the basic needs of patients are neglected, and the most vulnerable are overlooked” says Aontù candidate Michael O'Dowd.

“The failure to replace something as simple as chairs underscores a culture at the top levels of the HSE and government that allows standards to deteriorate while ignoring the lived realities of patients. 

“In the past six months, how many senior HSE managers, ministers, and politicians have visited this facility? How many walked through that overcrowded waiting room and failed to act? Their silence speaks volumes.

“It is thanks only to the dedicated medical personnel and administrators at Lourdes Hospital that patients continue to receive excellent care, despite the frustration caused by such avoidable issues.

“These frontline workers not only deal with overcrowded conditions but also bear the brunt of patient dissatisfaction stemming from failures entirely outside their control.

They deserve a system that supports their efforts, not one that undermines them. 

The issue of broken chairs may seem small, but it exists against a backdrop of wider government mismanagement. While patients in Drogheda endure broken facilities, the HSE has overspent €17 million on construction projects and squandered €9.4 million on unused ventilators.

“The government has allowed the National Children’s Hospital budget to spiral out of control. These failures point to a lack of accountability and prioritisation in our healthcare system. 

“It’s time to ask hard questions of Minister Stephen Donnelly and his leadership of the Department of Health. Why is it so difficult to address basic infrastructure issues in hospitals like Our  Lady of  Lourdes, while millions are wasted elsewhere? The people of  Louth deserve better. They deserve a government and a health system that puts patients first as Aontù will do.

“This neglect cannot be allowed to continue. We need action now—before the broken chairs become yet another symbol of a broken healthcare system.”