Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise the important matter pertaining to the services at the three midland hospitals, namely, Mullingar, Portlaoise and Tullamore hospitals. Options are being considered at present for the three hospitals, including a number of different measures. Discussions are ongoing regarding the provision of services at the three hospitals with serious implications in particular for acute surgery at Portlaoise hospital. Last year, the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, was the 11th busiest hospital in the State. In that year, 41,000 emergency cases were dealt with there and this compares with 24,000 cases in Naas. If acute surgery is discontinued at Portlaoise hospital, it will have huge implications for both that hospital and for Tullamore hospital. Tullamore hospital cannot cope with the increased workload, as the staff there already are under severe pressure. Core services at Portlaoise will be undermined. For example, the maternity, paediatric and accident and emergency services all rely on and require acute surgery facilities to be in place in order to function properly. Patient care will be compromised at both hospitals and this must all be considered in the context of growing pressure and longer waiting lists.

I am informed that among the options being considered are to have on-call acute surgery - whatever that means - available for reduced hours or that acute surgery would be taken away from Portlaoise. The timeframe for a final decision is very short, by 1 July at the very latest. The new regime will be in place by 11 July.

The main issues are supposed to be the availability of doctors who are referred to as the NCHDs, non-consultant hospital doctors. I am informed that Portlaoise will have an adequate number of NCHDs for July in order to continue with the current level of acute surgery at Portlaoise hospital. This should not be an excuse. I also ask the Minister to ensure that Naas hospital is included in the ongoing review of services because this hospital will provide a larger pool of staff. The other issue is funding. I know that this presents a challenge for both Tullamore and Portlaoise hospitals and also for Mullingar hospital. However, services can be maintained with careful management and with existing funding. I am sure the Department is open to giving a small amount of extra funding to ensure the hospitals do not run out of money.

Before the general election, both Government parties, Fine Gael and Labour, gave clear commitments to make health a priority. The Minister for Health when he came into office promised to take a very direct hands-on approach and to have his Department directly in control of health provision. I welcome this promise because I have listened for years to nonsense about the HSE being responsible and someone else being responsible, yet here was the Minister having a straight line of responsibility and this is welcomed by Sinn Féin on this side of the House.

However, last week I received a one-line response about this major reconfiguration of services in Portlaoise. The reply stated that the matter was being referred to the Health Service Executive for a direct reply. That is a very poor response, considering the commitments given.

I hope that acute surgery will be retained at the hospitals and I hope it will not be ended at Portlaoise, which is the busiest hospital with 41,000 emergency cases last year. I hope it will not happen under Fine Gael and Labour's watch. What we need in Laois-Offaly is for the Minister to intervene directly and ensure that the core services and in particular, acute surgery, will be retained in Portlaoise and Tullamore.

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