Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom aitheantas a thabhairt do na buntáistí agus na rudaí dearfacha a bhaineann leis na seirbhísí sláinte. It is important to acknowledge the progress that has been made. I would like to acknowledge the palliative care available to people here. I had experience of it before Christmas, and it was an excellent service. Waiting lists are improving, but the difficulty now is that while people are getting the initial appointment quicker, the delay then starts. I would love to see the statistics on the time between the initial appointment and the actual date of the operation, the treatment, the occupational therapy or the physiotherapy, or the detox bed, or presenting with an eating disorder or a mental health issue.

Before Christmas, the director general of the health service gave a briefing on the service, and I was one of three TDs who attended. It was excellent for the three of us because we had real one to one engagement. It was very obvious, looking at the plan, that there are challenges and reductions, and it is difficult to see the match between the requirements and the increasing demands and resources and funding available. It is happening today with a further increase in private health insurance, which will see more demands on the public service.

I would like to list a couple of examples which show that we are very far behind, one of which is related to CAHMS. I am hearing from the management of schools and from doctors who are referring young children to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and who are being refused. They do not make those referrals lightly, so I do not know if it is a resource issue or if the criteria have changed, but certainly there are many more refusals and there is still a big gap for those presenting with issues in the 16 to 18 age group.

Diabetes is an area in our medical system that does not get very much attention, but I think there is a need to look at those presenting with chronic diabetes in a much more holistic way. If patients come into an accident and emergency department with a kidney or heart problem, it should not be seen in isolation from the diabetes. I hear from people who have serious difficulties because they have chronic diabetes. The same is the case with stroke victims. While the therapies are good, there can be shortfalls in medical care.

I want to make one plea on substance misuse in the service plan. I hope that all of the local knowledge and the initiatives that have been built up in the communities most affected by the drugs issue will not be lost, and there will be supported drug recovery and accommodation. We must separate those in recovery from those who are actively using.

In the Government amendment there is a commitment to patient safety, but I recently came across an incident of a young woman delivering a baby in one of our maternity hospitals who was sent home and came back on three occasions because she continued to bleed for ten days after birth. It was discovered on the third occasion that the cutting had happened during birth. With the extent of the loss of blood, that is not patient safety.

See this speech in context