James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter in regard to an urgently needed spinal procedure on behalf of a patient in my constituency of Longford Westmeath. The procedure is not available, due to under-resourcing of this sector in the hospital in question and the patient is suffering and deteriorating due to the excessive delay.

This case relates to a young person who has just started college and suffers from a spinal condition which is extremely debilitating. It is particularly difficult for a young girl to cope with a new academic routine while in extreme pain. There is also the physical appearance of such a condition, which gets harder and harder to disguise with clothing as the condition worsens.

According to the consultant in charge of her case, the capacity to provide surgery for patients is curtailed by the lack of resources directed towards this problem. In recent correspondence he says that he spent three years abroad training in this specialised area and is very conscious of the need for timely surgical treatment. He goes on to say that there are currently no dedicated resources for this kind of surgery. Unfortunately this means that patients suffer extreme pain and deterioration while they are waiting. He says that he and his colleagues have made multiple representations to the Department of Health and Children at all levels to try and improve this situation. Currently there are 102 patients awaiting spinal surgery on his list, with 35 of these for spinal fusion. I believe that the hospital has now sourced an additional consultant to perform day procedures, which should go some way to clearing the backlog, although day treatment is not applicable to the patient in question.

When cutbacks caused by Government mismanagement of the economy are set against the alleviation of pain, and the cutbacks win, then people suffer unduly. It is this Iack of consideration of the human element that is missing from our health services. The patient, who should be the prime focus of any health system, does not count.

The Minister recently admitted that 70% of the health budget goes into administrative salaries and just 30% is allotted for patient care. She then went on to say that the cutbacks in the forthcoming budget would be taken from that 30%. Then, to top off the disregard for the well-being of patients, a percentage of the health budget is returned unspent to the Exchequer each year. That is a farce.

I must ask the Minister to go back to the drawing board and work out who exactly is our health service for. As it stands, its primary function is to continue to pay for a top-heavy sector, with little money filtering down to the patient. The tales of horror, pain and sheer despair are mounting daily. This is morally and criminally wrong.

When patients in extreme pain and discomfort are given appointments with a waiting time of 18 months or more, the system is not meeting the needs of the sick and vulnerable. This is not acceptable, just as it is not acceptable to ask a young girl to wait for a year or more for essential surgery. What is particularly distressing is the hardening in attitudes towards the needs of patients, as civil servants take any measures necessary to make good the excesses of the Government, regardless of patient well-being.

When a country looks to its ill and vulnerable to make good its shortfall while the so-called elite continue to enjoy the good life, it is despicable. While he is apparently content to see patients die if necessary, I do not see the Taoiseach rushing to give up a half of his excessive salary. Why should the Taoiseach of a country in dire financial straits, for which he bears responsibility, be given the fourth highest salary of any prime minister or leader in the world? Is the IMF turning its attention to this necessary, indeed not negotiable, cutback?

In the meantime, while the fat cats are still lapping the cream, a young patient in my constituency of Longford Westmeath is suffering. I am asking the Minister to take this young patient out of pain and provide the surgery she so urgently needs.

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