Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the questions which I have raised with this committee and with the HSE on a number of occasions. We are going around in circles in this regard. We are a year on from the Higgins report when Professor Higgins established the hospital groups. Waterford University Hospital was given an undertaking that a 24-7 cardiac catheterisation laboratory would be available to the people in the south east. It currently operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a Monday to Friday basis. Therefore, if one has a heart attack, one can get the required treatment only between those hours from Monday to Friday.

I see from the response I received that a business case has been prepared. There was no talk of business cases when Professor Higgins, at a meeting at which I was present along with the then Minister, Deputy Reilly, said that this was part of the deal in Waterford becoming part of the hospital group in conjunction with Cork University Hospital. When will this service be delivered to the people of the south east?

Regarding my second question on the palliative care unit, I note there has been a development in that this plan has gone to service design, but I am alarmed to find that in a report published by the hospice association, which is available on its website, the south east is the only part of the country in which hospice home care packages are not paid for in their entirety by the HSE. The HSE funds a home visiting service, which is crucial to very sick people throughout the south east, to the value of approximately €200,000 a year, and it costs €500,000 to run. The €300,000 deficit is, therefore, made up by fund-raising by the people of the south east.

People who fund-raise for the hospice in Cork or Kerry can buy nice added extras for people who are experiencing a difficult time in their lives. However, the money from fund-raising in the south east goes directly to pay for the service. How is it that we are the only region in the country that must do this? I want to know what will be done.

Furthermore, the people of Waterford and the south east have committed to fund-raising a total of €6 million for the construction of the palliative care unit in the grounds of the hospital. If we had the use of the €300,000 which we fund-raise every year to put towards that project I maintain that the project would be completed more quickly.

The Minister spoke about how HIQA has improved standards-----