Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

There has been a sustained attack on the safety of small or local hospitals, facilitated and promoted by the last Government. All of the medical professionals say their practises are not safe and that their emergency departments should be closed. Surely then the solution is to make them safe and keep them open. Instead, we are faced with a one size fits all approach from medics based a few minutes away from the major regional centres. This is unacceptable. There are clear exceptions where this type of approach simply cannot work.

We should and must look at the unique geographic problems facing communities such as that serviced by Roscommon County Hospital and come up with a tailored solution that takes this and other factors into account and acknowledges that the one size fits all approach simply will not work. Commentators and so-called medical experts say that Roscommon County Hospital has no future yet none of these people are prepared to acknowledge that many parts of the hospital's catchment area are two hours from the so-called centre of excellence. These geographical issues are being completely ignored by the setting of standards by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, which seem to be solely focused on standards applicable when people come to the door of a hospital or are placed in an ambulance rather than on the transportation of inadequately resuscitated and unstable patients over large distances. This must change.

Door to door, via the motorway, Roscommon County Hospital is one hour and 21 minutes from Galway University Hospital. This does not include call-out time, assessment and stabilisation of the patient by a paramedic and return journey from the scene of the emergency. I am not a medical expert. However, the total disregard for these facts does not make sense to me. I invite all of the local medical professions in Roscommon, including the consultants and general practitioners, to meet directly with the Minister and his medical advisers and to thrash out once and for all the so-called safety issues at Roscommon County Hospital.

The proposed complete closure of the accident and emergency department at Roscommon County Hospital came not from outside but from the hospital and its consultants. I believe the consultants proposed the closure of accident and emergency in good faith as a last resort. The fact is that this is now being used as an implementation plan. The HSE is saying this is what the people working in the hospital have put forward. I urge the consultants to revise their plans and to work with the Minister to ensure Roscommon County Hospital can provide additional services locally to individuals who should not have to travel significant distances to access treatment.

The urgent care centre proposed by the Minister is the first of its kind in the country. It is a blank canvass. I urge the consultants and general practitioners to work with the Minister to create a unique centre of excellence that can become the benchmark for other geographically isolated communities. I reject utterly the proposal for the complete closure of the accident and emergency department at Roscommon County Hospital. The people of Roscommon need a 24 hour-7 day a week service. We have some of the best nurses and support staff in the country working in and supporting our emergency department. We should be using these professionals to develop services not undermining their role. I have not thrown in the towel. I am committed to working in the best interests of the hospital, its patients and staff in providing the best possible safe service long into the future.

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