Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have two brief questions. Reference was made to the 5% of patients who require chronic disease management that GPs cannot offer and who would ideally be managed in a hospital with high-tech equipment where complex work is performed. Do the witnesses know or are data available on the level of chronic disease management taking place inappropriately, as they might say but possibly because there is no other choice, in the acute hospital setting that could be taking place in the community?

My second question relates to the use of diagnostics in the community. A group appeared before the committee just prior to our guests and its members informed us that they had diagnostics - specifically radiography - in the community and that the machines were not used. There was not sufficient critical mass to facilitate them being brought into use. I am not referring to the massive machines but to what extent could some diagnostics be carried out in the community, thereby avoiding the need for people to go to hospital? I would like to hear about the witnesses' experience. I was disappointed to learn that the machine that in the community setting was not being used. The delay in accessing diagnostics results is a particular problem and it is one that has been raised with us. I would have assumed the easy solution would be to locate diagnostics equipment in a community setting thereby removing it from the over-involved systems in hospitals. The latter could then focus on carrying out the more high-tech work. I would just be interested to hear our guests' views on that.