Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a series of questions and will be brief as I want to hear the answers to them. I submitted a question on the number of legal cases against the HSE regarding misdiagnosis, how many were currently in process and how much compensation had been paid out in the past ten years. I have not been furnished with answers and will await replies from the State Claims Agency. However, I find it mind-boggling that the information is not to hand; not for me, but for the Minister. Does the Minister not receive regular reports on the clinical incidence and number of misdiagnoses? This would all feed into the issue of unqualified consultants. Does the Minister see dangers around that and a risk of escalation? There were 34 cases of clinical incidence and 575 cases resulted in claims against the HSE. In most incidents where there is misdiagnosis, people will not bother taking cases. However, my question is about reporting to the Minister himself and whether he will change anything in that regard following the situation with Vicky Phelan.

What plans does the Minister have in place to address spinal surgery waiting lists? I know people who have been waiting several years for spinal surgery. Can these patients go abroad? If they are to be told it will be three years before they get spinal surgery in the State, can we facilitate and pay for them to go abroad to have that where they identify a surgeon somewhere else?

I do not accept the answer I have been given on Translarna. The reason I do not is because the European situation was cited, whereas we know it can be approved conditionally and has been in most EU member states. As such, this does not stop countries facilitating the provision of this treatment. Why are we not doing that here? On the price, the Minister knows the €300,000 per patient quoted is a public price. It is not a negotiated price. That really concerns me because it is untrue. Is it not the duty of the HSE to negotiate the price? As to a timeline, if the drug company submits more or new information, how long will it take before approval is given?

I will ask the Minister about Versatis again. I thank him for the answer he has given but it means there are still 23,000 patients who were on Versatis. I take the Minister's point on overprescribing but I ask him specifically whether he is monitoring how many extra patients are using morphine patches as a result of the withdrawal of Versatis. When will he conduct a post-decision analysis on that? Will he meet the people who intend to gather outside Leinster House on 30 May and who were in chronic pain to tell him about the impact this awful decision has had on them?