Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to discuss a matter of national importance, namely, the Health Service Executive-commissioned Teamwork Management Services report, "Improving Safety and Achieving Better Standards: An Action Plan for Health Services in the North East", which seriously diminishes accident and emergency services in the region's five hospitals by centralising these services in a single new regional hospital on an as yet unannounced site; the implications this will have for those patients not receiving treatment within the timespan of the "golden hour"; the likely fatal consequences for those patients who do not receive intravenous anti-thrombotic medication as soon as possible to prevent a further heart attack; the proposed deployment of visiting consultants for the region's general hospitals; the report's recommendation of fewer acute beds, which conflicts with the Hanly report's recommendation of a nationwide need of an additional 3,000 acute beds; and the inexcusable omission in the current climate of any reference to cross-Border co-operation in the provision of the region's hospital services.

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