Mary Wallace (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

We would like the retinopathy screening service in the north west to continue and our officials have contacted the HSE in this regard. We hope to see progress in the near future.

Regarding the report, the Deputy suggested nothing has happened but timing is important. He referred to September 2007 but the report went to HSE management one month ago. We are discussing what has happened in the past four weeks and we should get the timing right. HSE management is considering the report and is doing its best to implement the recommendations it contains. The clinical guidelines the Minister is to launch on 16 June, which I referred to in the reply, are of practical value for people because there has been agreement between GPs and consultants on who does what, when they do it and where. This is important for patients presenting with diabetes and the continuum of care and clinical management was covered in the agreement for the guidelines. The guidelines will be very good and may be used for other specialties because it is good that those involved know what each person will do, how it will be done and so on. This is important for some of the clients referred to.

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