Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I am concerned about the recent announcement made by the HSE and the Minister for Health and Children, regarding the provision of a six-slice CT scanner for Ennis General Hospital. The widely-held view among medical practitioners is that the imaging quality of such a CT scanner is inadequate as a modern diagnostic tool. The Department of Health and Children should immediately instruct the HSE to purchase a higher grade CT scanner.

I recently called on Clare voters to be extra vigilant over Government assurances on the county's health services in the run-up to the election and there is nothing about this latest announcement on the CT scanner that makes me change my mind.

I have spoken to consultants on this matter and they have assured me that anything less than a 16-slice scanner is yesterday's technology being applied to tomorrow's health services. The population of Ennis and County Clare is growing and is currently more than 106,000. The first prototype 16-slice scanner was apparently introduced in 2001 and 64-slice scanners are now common. In proposing a six-slice scanner for Ennis General Hospital the Minister is seeking to install pre-2001 technology. This does not seem like very old technology but this is one area that is subject to rapid technological developments.

Since I tabled this motion I have been made aware that there is a doubt about whether there is such a thing as a six-slice scanner and that, in effect, the Minister is sanctioning a fictitious piece of equipment for Ennis General Hospital.

I remind the House of her reply to me last week. After much toing and froing between my office and her Department over whether she would approve the revenue costs to operate a CT scanner in Ennis — an answer to which I am still awaiting — she stated:

the Hospital has been given approval by the HSE to purchase a six-slice CT scanner. The HSE is currently considering the revenue requirement for the new scanner.

The HSE informed me on 12 October that they were awaiting funding to proceed. I ask the Minister of State the reason Ennis should be given a six-slice scanner when Ballinasloe's Portiuncula Hospital is getting a 64-slice scanner and Nenagh General Hospital a 16-slice scanner. Why is something inferior marked down for Ennis? Why is Ennis the poor relation of these hospitals when €600,000 has been awarded by the mid-western hospital development trust for a scanner?

In case she is in any doubt about the value for money that can now be had for 16-slice scanners, I wish to inform the Minister that a Siemens Emotion 16 scanner has a high diagnostic image quality and, according to Medical Technology Business Europe newsletter, "enables hospitals and private practices with limited budgets or space allocations to install a 16-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner suitable for comprehensive clinical applications". That is all we want for Ennis. It would fit into a space of less than 200 sq. ft. and I believe the purchase price would not be much more than what the hospital has received from the trust fund.

I ask the Minister of State as the representative of the Minister for Health and Children to put pressure on the Minister to take into account a technology which is changing rapidly. The consultants advise that a 16-slice scanner is the minimum needed for Ennis and not a six-slice scanner.

My party leader was in Ennis last week and he visited Ennis General Hospital. He was told this information by the consultants. He also gave a commitment that a consultant-led 24 hour accident and emergency service would continue in Ennis General Hospital under his leadership.

I hope the Minister of State will have positive news for me this evening and that the Department will consider this proposal in the interests of patient safety and in the interests of promoting Ennis General Hospital where it is still awaiting the development plan to be implemented. A sum of €30 million has been allocated for this purpose but not a brick has been laid yet. We are hoping for good news in the near future. The recent news about the scanner does not bode well for a positive outlook for the future of the hospital and the Government's commitment to the hospital.

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