Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising the question which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney.

The Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar, MRHM, is part of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. The aim of the hospital is to deliver a quality-driven, people-centred service to the population of Dublin-Midlands and in particular the Longford-Westmeath area.

The Deputy's question assumes there has been a withdrawal of services at Mullingar Hospital and also a refusal to provide scan and X-ray facilities to public patients. The HSE has confirmed that there has been no withdrawal of such services at Mullingar. On the provision of scan and X-ray facilities, a recent nationwide survey conducted by HSE HealthStat revealed that access to radiology for urgent cases in the MRHM catchment area is the best in the country. This is achieved through the diligence of the radiologists in the Department reviewing individually every request for CT, MRI and ultrasound, and prioritising them. While this can be a very time-consuming process, it is considered to be an efficient and effective process by the consultant radiologists at Mullingar hospital.

The trend in modern medicine practice is to use more and more investigation. From a clinical perspective, not all of this is considered to be helpful. However, a consultant radiologist at Mullingar has indicated that in many cases GPs' requests can be unnecessary, resulting in the waiting times for more appropriate examinations taking longer than necessary. Consultant radiologists at Mullingar hospital return a number of requests to the referring doctor for various reasons, usually because the test requested is inappropriate for the clinical problem. This practice applies to requests from both general practitioners and internal requests from doctors in the hospital.

I am informed that, for example, international evidence shows that in the case of back and neck injury presentations, unless there is evidence of neurological damage, the use of imaging is not indicated. Inappropriate requests are not accepted for scans on any patient, whether public or private, at the hospital. The HSE has categorically confirmed to the Department that all patients, both public and private, are treated equally for the purposes of radiology requirements at Mullingar Hospital.

Where scans are available from private providers, the criteria used to decide whether they are required may be different. This could give the mistaken impression that these private patients are getting a better service.

The activity and volume through the Radiology Department at Mullingar hospital is constantly increasing year on year. The position on radiological tests at the hospital during 2008 and 2009 is an increase of 2.5%. I am confident that services at the Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar are designed to deliver the best and most appropriate services to all of its patients and will continue to do so into the future.

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