Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. I apologise for not being present for part of the meeting. I have looked back at their evidence and have read most of their documents for today. They spoke about a GP-led heart failure service and also about clinical nurse specialists in the community having a role. I am a community pharmacist and I wonder if they would see community pharmacists having a role in the prevention of stroke and the treatment of cardiovascular disease. In Canada, some very interesting work has been done in this area. This committee has heard ad infinitumabout he ageing population but also the ageing GP population and about how many of them are due to retire, as well as the huge HR issues we have within the health service. It is all fine and dandy to say that we want a GP-led service but it will not work if we do not have the GPs and cannot get them from somewhere. In the context of Sláintecare, we spoke about ramping up entry level into medicine to try to have more graduates because we need to have the GPs to lead this.

I am of the view that there is a huge role for community pharmacists, especially in light of the new masters in pharmacy courses through the schools of pharmacy. When the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, was Minister for Health, the whole point was to expand the role of community pharmacists. I did the masters in pharmacy course in the UK some years ago and it would always have been considered as more clinically-based in nature. I would like to hear the witnesses' views. Obviously, my view is that there is a huge role for community pharmacists in rationalising medication but also in the management of people when they go home and into the community.

The news on virtual consultation is very positive. Innovation is key to how we move forward in our health service and if we continue doing things the same way, we are not going to get anywhere.

With regard to the FAST campaign for stroke, when was that last rolled out? I felt the campaign was still on the television but the witnesses have suggested people are not acting on the basis of FAST, when we all know that is the key to ensuring less damage and better outcomes.

The witnesses referred to 85% cover in our units and, in particular, to a unit that deals with the Domestos aspect and with the pipe cleaning aspect. Is this a very specialised procedure and can it happen in every hospital? We are talking about trauma centres, orthopaedic centres and maternity centres. However, in a general run-of-the-mill hospital in Tullamore, Mullingar, Carlow or Kilkenny, is it economically viable to have these units in situ? Do the outcomes make it worth the investment? Logically, we cannot just have four centres because travel time will negate the positive side of that.

The time from door to needle has gone down from three hours to one hour and 40 minutes. Have we figures on how this has improved outcomes? Are there figures that apply to the period before reaching the door of the hospital, such as ambulance response times? Have we improved outcomes in these two areas and where can we target to improve them further?

I am conscious we are focusing on the witnesses' areas of speciality. Although I am not sure if diabetes was mentioned, I am sure it is a huge part of this and the obesity epidemic on our doorsteps obviously has a major impact. Healthy Ireland was a positive document. The witnesses might comment on whether it needs to be looked at again and refreshed, or whether it is fine as it is.