Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)

On behalf of my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, I am glad of the opportunity afforded to me this evening by Deputy Ring to discuss Mayo General Hospital.

I wish to outline some facts in regard to Mayo General Hospital which will underline the Government's commitment to develop hospital services for the people of County Mayo. The Government has invested heavily in the infrastructure at Mayo General Hospital.

Phase II of a major development programme at the hospital, which cost €50 million, included the following developments: a new accident and emergency department, a medical assessment unit, a geriatric assessment unit, an obstetric and delivery suite, CT scanning facilities, a new helicopter landing facility, improved mortuary and post-mortem room, a new information technology system and a new administration and medical records department.

The phase II capital development also provided the necessary facilities for the development of orthopaedic services at Mayo General Hospital including ward accommodation and a state of the art orthopaedic operating theatre in which to carry out orthopaedic surgery. Annual revenue funding for Mayo General Hospital is now more than €50 million. The hospital employs approximately 830 wholetime equivalent staff. These staff are providing additional and improved hospital services to the people of Mayo.

Activity at the hospital has increased year on year. The hospital's inpatient and day case activity for 2004 was approximately 22,000 patients. More than 25,000 people attend its emergency department. The hospital's outpatient department treats more than 30,000 people. There has been an increase in the number of beds at the hospital over recent years. The number of beds at the hospital is currently 317. The new 33-bed orthopaedic unit will be a particularly valuable addition to the hospital and will be of great benefit to the people of County Mayo.

The Government has provided specific funding of €10.9 million to allow for the opening of the new orthopaedic service at Mayo General Hospital. This is a new service at Mayo General Hospital. Outpatient orthopaedic services for people from Mayo began when the new unit opened and the waiting list for an outpatient appointment has been reduced from 1,700 to 300.

Mayo General Hospital commenced an inpatient elective orthopaedic service in September 2004. Between September and December 2004, approximately 70 patients received elective treatments in the hospital. In January 2005, to allow for the development of the orthopaedic trauma service at the hospital, elective treatments were suspended temporarily. It is important to understand that the temporary suspension of elective treatments will allow for the development of an orthopaedic trauma service, the completion of the recruitment staff for the orthopaedic unit and the provision of training for staff at the new unit. These are all necessary steps to develop the service at the hospital.

Trauma orthopaedics by its nature will always take precedence over planned elective work. The orthopaedic trauma service has been running since the beginning of January with a significant number of patients being treated in Mayo General Hospital who would otherwise have had to travel to Galway. I understand that Mayo General Hospital plans to reintroduce elective orthopaedic surgery at the end of this month.

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