Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Here is my question. I completely accept that this is happening across Europe and that it is a perfect storm but this perfect storm happens every year, although not to the same degree. I had to use the D Doc service on St. Stephen's Day not too many years ago with a child who had bronchiolitis for whom I was really fearful. Christmas week happens every year and we know that it is associated with GP disruption. We also know that parents desperately need time.

I want to refer to something somebody sent me. They say that, for the second time in a matter of weeks, they had to go to Temple Street because the next available GP appointment was the week after next. They say they are lucky to have health insurance but that the first visit on Christmas Day was a result of no minor injuries clinics being open. They note that minor injuries clinics do not treat abdominal pain today and that D Doc and Northdoc just keep ringing out. They say that we have unnecessary patients in accident and emergency departments because our primary care service is not working and needs investment. The staff in Temple Street told this person that the majority of patients presenting could be treated by their GP or a minor injuries clinic but that they have no other choice but to present at an accident and emergency department. This person says they have had two eye-opening experiences in a matter of weeks. On Christmas night, they genuinely feared a child might die because of the absolute carnage in the emergency department in Temple Street. As a parent who is there frequently due to having a child with a lung condition, they say that they had never seen anything like it.

I have used that service and, every Christmas, children get sick and GP hours are disrupted. Why then are we only seeing extra hours click into place on 1 January at best, if the data hold up? We will come back to that. Why are we only seeing this on 1 January when we know that Christmas week happens every year? Even in previous years, people had to ring D Doc quite a few times to get through. We know this happens. Why are we waiting?