Morley’s Mouthfuls - This week on Galway Talks (A&E wait times, living through a mental health crisis and medical negligence)

In a week when the presidential election dominated national media, we focused in on healthcare and disabilities here on Galway Talks.

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​We started off the week by hearing the story of Siobhán Cunningham. Her TikTok went viral when she posted outside A&E. The Loughrea woman had to sit back in her car because there was absolutely no room for her to sit down in the waiting room. She talked us through her journey of misdiagnosis, long waits in A&E, and also a lack of step-down support and care plans. Siobhán got a huge reaction from our listeners, who told their own stories of their own difficulties in A&E.

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​We also focused in on mental health on the programme this week, when Wayne Murphy told us of his descent into despair. Wayne told us about how his brother's suicide triggered his own mental health crisis. He's now in recovery and is back out of the mental health support unit. He told us that he wants to be an inspiration to others to share their stories and speak out when they too are going through times of despair.

 

​Now, medical negligence was very much to the fore at the beginning of the week, as it was reported by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association that over €5.3 billion of the health budget goes towards the area. Money well spent from the patient's point of view but could it be used to invest in under pressure healthcare services? We debated that with Johan Verbruggen, Head of Medical Negligence with Fieldfisher.