Management at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, last night defended the hospital's record following a statement by Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, on patient numbers in its accident and emergency unit.
Mr Rabbitte claimed that five patients in need of urgent treatment were left waiting in armchairs because a further 25 people were occupying trolleys.
In a statement issued last night, the hospital said: "We feel that the picture presented by Deputy Rabbitte fails to accurately reflect the pattern of activity in the hospital. For example, with regards to outpatients, we would point out that up to 500 patients will be seen tomorrow in our outpatient department, and up to 10,000 appointments will be fulfilled this month alone."
Mr Rabbitte, speaking at a Labour Party meeting about the hospital, said that when he checked on the state of the accident and emergency department at the hospital at 3 p.m. yesterday, one of the patients left on a trolley, an elderly lady, had been there since last Thursday.
He had also spoken to staff in the hospital who had worked "flat out all weekend, and who dread the weekends to come", he said, with many "being subjected to the anger of patients and their families, for quite understandable reasons, even though they are powerless to do anything to relieve the blockages".
However, hospital sources last night expressed doubt about whether Mr Rabbitte had actually been in the department at that time.
A spokesman for Mr Rabbitte subsequently confirmed he had, in fact, not visited the hospital but had been in "telephone contact" before attending the meeting in Santry, Co Dublin.