Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First of all, I would like to welcome the witnesses here today. I wish them a merry Christmas and a happy new year. They have appeared before the committee at various times over the last 12 months and I find them to be very honest and trustworthy.

I agree with Mr. O'Brien that the problem of overcrowding is not only for emergency departments. It requires all the health service systems to work together. The good news is that all the HSE directors are here today, so it is important for them to work together. I was delighted that the INMO called off the strike on Tuesday. That decision was important for patient safety. Mr. O'Brien spoke about teams, and it is important for everyone to work together. Citizens deserve a good health service, so it is a matter of putting our heads together and moving forward as one. What progress has the task force on emergency departments made in implementing recommendations to address overcrowding, particularly at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda? As regards the escalation directive issued on 27 November, can we expect that patients presenting in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, will not be waiting more than nine hours for a bed? Mr. O'Brien said that discharges had decreased in November 2015 by 32%. Why was there such a big reduction in November? He spoke about care planning and setting expected discharge dates for every patient, so is that the reason? It is a dramatic decline, and is good news. He also referred to 440 additional beds; what progress is being made to open them up? In addition, Mr. O'Brien spoke about recruiting extra staff, which is good news for everybody both within and outside emergency departments. How many positions are available and what is the timescale for filling all of them?

The out-of-hours GP service is fantastic and Mr. O'Brien mentioned expanding it in 2016. How does he intend to expand it? The waiting time for the nursing home support scheme has been reduced to four weeks. In addition, an extra 600 home care packages have been provided. What effect will this have on the availability of hospital beds?

I had an experience at the emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. From the moment I went in the door with my family, I received an excellent service from the administrator, doctor, nurses, consultants and gardaí. All we seem to hear on television and radio are negative things. Do not get me wrong - a lot of people come to my clinic to say that the service is not great, but at the same time, many more people say the service is very good.

I want to put a challenge to Mr. O'Brien. I am a former football manager and team leader. Mr. O'Brien is the team leader for the HSE. He has all his generals beside him. I always emphasise that health is the most important thing for anyone. The old saying is that your health is your wealth. Together with Mr. O'Brien, the Minister and the money, we have everything going forward. It is important for all of us to work together into the future. As the Taoiseach says, Ireland is the best small country in the world in which to do business. Let us have the best health service in the world. With the INMO calling off that strike on Tuesday, there is a lot of goodwill among everybody. We should all work together for a good health service that people in Ireland deserve.