Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 27 June 2019

Public Accounts Committee

Health Service Executive Financial Statements 2018
2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 - Department of Health
Chapter 16 - Control of Private Patient Activity in Acute Public Hospitals

9:00 am

Photo of David CullinaneDavid Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Did Mr. Reid know that some cancer patients were sent home because of issues with theatre capacity? Five patients were affected. I am sure that Mr. Reid is aware that being booked in for some kind of cancer treatment is life-altering. There is a psychological aspect involved in a person building himself or herself up physically and mentally for this type of treatment. The person goes to the hospital and is ready to get the surgery but is then told to go home. The hospital management stated that was purely due to capacity issues with surgical theatre space. Despite that, however, that cost containment plan will kick in over the next weeks and months and will that there will be a reduction in surgical theatre availability. That is the outworking of it. First of all, was Mr. Reid aware that patients were sent home?