Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I want to pursue this issue a little further with the Tánaiste, not least because Loughlinstown hospital is in my constituency. The county coroner examined the case of 16 deaths and concluded that the C. diff infection was the direct cause in five and a contributory factor in another five. Loughlinstown is not the only example of this. As Deputy Kenny said, earlier this month we had the report on Ennis, which showed that of the 46 cases examined there, 15 were as a result of hospital infections. We are talking about people dying. People go to hospital to get cured, not to get killed. A report from the HSE last year concluded that one out of every 20 hospital admissions ends up with a hospital-related infection. This represents 30,000 people in a year, 600 per week or 80 per day who acquire hospital infections. That is an epidemic. We know from what the medical personnel in the hospitals have been saying that they have sought help. One common thread running through all this is that the medical professionals in the hospitals flagged the problem some time ago and went looking for help. They did so in Ennis. The consultant, Mr. Hennessy, said it was as a result of overcrowding in the wards and sought help on that front. At Loughlinstown, medical consultants and staff at the hospital, for whom I have enormous respect, stated on five different occasions that they needed a consultant microbiologist. The coroner who examined this issue over a six-month period repeatedly supported the call for the appointment of a consultant microbiologist. The problem in Loughlinstown is that swabs cannot be carried out due to the absence of a consultant microbiologist. Because of this, doctors cannot even tell whether a person acquired his or her infection in the hospital or brought it into the hospital.

The solution has been there for some time. The first request for the appointment of a consultant microbiologist was made as far back as 2005. I do not accept the answer that this was held up by negotiations on the consultants' contract. Will the Tánaiste explain why such a person has not been appointed? The HSE said there were difficulties with the appointment of a microbiologist. What are the difficulties? When will a consultant microbiologist be appointed at Loughlinstown hospital so that the problem can be brought under control at least at this hospital?

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