Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Mulvany referred to community. During Covid, we were a bit slow to bring pharmacists into it, although they were brought in eventually. We relied on GPs and clinics and whatever else. Should we make better use of our pharmacists? Nursing homes were referred to earlier. Many older people also like to attend primary care units and feel safe going there. Should we be looking at better use of processes that could take place within a pharmacy or a primary care unit so maybe people do not have to present to accident and emergency? Another part of that question is that 95% of people who go to the hospital require ordinary beds and 5% require more critical care beds. The last report that came out from UHL stated that more than 30,000 people attended the minor injury units and approximately 80,000 attended the emergency department in UHL. It also stated that the number of people waiting to go in for appointments had been reduced by 20% but with all the cancellations they are now back to square one. Are there any plans to address that? Are there any plans to have the appointment service work greater hours? I know that means more staff and perhaps it is a shortage of staff that then leads to this. Are there plans in terms of recruitment? I believe there are not enough neurological nurses, who could help keep people at home. I had a call the other day from a lady who has MS. If she had been able to access a neurological nurse, she possibly would not have had to go to hospital but she spent 37 hours on a trolley before she got a bed. While I know there may have been some people who were more of a priority, this person was in a lot of pain. She felt that if she had been able to see the neurological nurse, it could have helped. I know there is a lot in that.