Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I apologise but I will have to leave shortly because I am due to speak in the Chamber.

I welcome the witnesses. They will have heard the harrowing stories we heard in the first part of the meeting. We were all taken aback at the shocking numbers of patients developing sepsis and the very high death rate from that. It is especially traumatic for families where a loved one dies in circumstances that are preventable, and great credit is due to the families who are attending this meeting and, indeed, the support organisation for trying to raise awareness of this issue.

All the witnesses who earlier appeared before the committee were exceptionally critical of the circumstances that exist within the health service. We want to address that, and we hope this will be a turning point for sepsis and the country's performance in regard to sepsis. It is an issue we are all keen to stick with and see through to achieve huge improvements. Some of those improvements were outlined to us earlier by the Stauntons in respect of the incredible work that they have done in the US, the Rory Staunton law that was introduced in the New York and the fact those changed arrangements, and the protocol in particular, have resulted in saving approximately 20,000 lives, which is a fantastic legacy.

How can we do something similar here by learning from what was done in New York and introducing that kind of protocol that will change the whole approach, not only among healthcare staff but also in terms of public awareness and training for healthcare staff? I was disappointed to hear about the level of public awareness, which is so important. The families told us earlier about how they had a battle with healthcare staff in regard to their family member to get them to consider the issue of sepsis. They were brushed aside and their concerns were dismissed. How are we to put the issue, or the possibility of sepsis, front and centre when a person with serious conditions within a hospital? I am concerned to hear the HSE is only at the point of scoping out the public awareness aspect at this stage. How can HSE learn from what has been achieved in New York and what is it doing to put in place those kinds of safeguards?