Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 14 October 2020

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health

Update on Sláintecare

Senator Seán Kyne:

I think the witnesses for their presentations. They have provided us with a lot of information on what is a very important area.

We had a presentation last week from mental health groups, specifically Mental Health Ireland and Jigsaw. The representatives spoke about the percentage of the budget going to mental health and we also heard about the percentage going to GP and primary care services. Everybody's percentage cannot increase because, otherwise, that for some area of the health sector would have to drop. Where are we out of step, comparatively, with our EU counterparts in the context of health spending and how can it be reprofiled?

There was mention of community healthcare networks. How do these compare with the primary care settings? I presume they would be part of that. We have seen the rolling out of many impressive buildings and there is always a question regarding buy-in from GPs. We have the infrastructure in many parts but not the buy-in from GPs.

There are areas in my county and close to Galway city, for example, that would not be covered by Westdoc. This can have an impact on recruitment of GPs. The system could break down if the recruitment is not there. If we are looking to invest, should we start by ensuring that there is adequate cover for Westdoc and other regional services?

I am interested in the issue of chronic illness. Heart failure in a community setting is very often overlooked, especially in comparison with cancer, but it is responsible for one in every two hospital admissions relating to people over 65. This is heart failure as opposed to heart attacks, although the difference may not be understood by everybody in the country. Do community voluntary charity organisations feature to the fullest extent in all of this? For example, Croí in the west of Ireland undertakes really excellent work with people on a holistic approach to health. Could more be done in this regard?

Mr. O'Sullivan mentioned the long waits for scheduled care services and accident and emergency departments. We will speak at some stage about capital plans. There are areas with new accident and emergency departments, such as Limerick and Kilkenny, while areas like Galway, based on the current timeline, could be four or five years waiting for a new accident and emergency department to open. Will these infrastructural deficits have an impact on the implementation of Sláintecare? Is the timeline too long and will this have an impact?

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