Mr. John Dunne:

Sláintecare specifies that the new integrated structures will seek evidence to inform their investment, which means they will carry out an assessment of needs in their area and respond to it. I say that not convinced it will work, but in principle.

On the subject of palliative, I would like to give an example of a case that came to mind when it was mentioned earlier. An elderly woman was discharged from hospital on a clear death trajectory having been told by the hospital that there was nothing more that could be done for her. When the family responded that they could not cope, they were told to find a nursing home place for her. When they did so, hospital staff contacted the nursing home and instructed staff there not to give the woman the bed because they said they needed it. The woman went home and died. As Ms Duffy said, people are afraid to complain no matter what happens to them for fear of losing whatever services they have. However, when someone dies a complaint can be made. Family Carers Ireland received a complaint. We facilitate people in making complaints. In fairness, the director of nursing and the consultant in the hospital were distressed and apologised profusely. I have an image of this woman sitting on her suitcase in the snow in a car park waiting to be picked up to be brought home to die. The response from the two other people who were in the room, who were responsible for bed management, was that they were just doing their job. The family did not want to take the matter any further. I would have been happy to but the family decided to walk away from it. It was mentioned earlier that "palliative" is a magic word. That is not always the case.