Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As part of the health initiative, we met Professor McKeown in Queen’s University Belfast.

In the context of our trip to Altnagelvin hospital, there is a link with Donegal. On linkages, I presume our guests would like to see such initiatives rolled out across the island. If patients are living in Cavan they do not want to travel for two hours to get to the nearest hospital. Are there other initiatives like that? Drogheda was mentioned earlier. Would people from the North travel to Drogheda or vice versa? Daisy Hill hospital in Newry would have been one of the centres at one time. Do our guests see that happening more in the Border region, particularly in the context of time-critical care? We have heard talk about the so-called golden hour in respect of many of these matters. How important is that cross-Border element, particularly for those in rural areas?

The plan refers to standardised services that are provided as close to home as possible, but that is not happening in some areas because of geography. Do our guests have any views on that? What is the worst area to live in? Is it Kerry or Donegal? As stated, the latter has a link with Derry. Is it the west of Ireland more generally? Where are the black spots for healthcare and for cardiac care in particular?