Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the selection of this important issue for discussion. Deputy Connaughton raised a point earlier which was graciously accepted by the Minister of State and which is important to put on the record. This Topical Issue debate has become an important part of the minimalist Dáil reform we have seen. The Whips and members of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges have expressed concern in recent times that Ministers do not appear to deal with the issues. I agree this is an exceptional week - the Cabinet benches have become like the deck of the Mary Celeste as the week has gone on - and that it is appropriate for Ministers to be out of the country this week. However, I hope what we have seen happen in recent weeks does not become a trend.

We learned yesterday that Dublin's Tallaght Hospital has a backlog of approximately 6,000 reports on X-rays and other scans, reports that have yet to be provided to doctors who referred patients for checks. The problem relates to delays in typing these radiological reports.

These cases involve X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans and ultrasound scans that have been read by specialists. The results have been dictated onto tapes but they have not been circulated to the referring medical practitioners. The excellent CEO of the hospital, Eilish Hardiman, has said that no risk to patient safety arises from these delays. She has said that when the standard turnaround time is taken into account, the current delay in typing up reports is two or three weeks. We discovered yesterday that an internal memo circulated in the hospital's radiology department warned that the backlog might put patients at continued medical risk as a result of the failure to transmit findings to the referring doctors. Furthermore, the memo claims that this problem was highlighted to senior hospital management up to four months ago, but attempts to tackle the backlog did not succeed.

As we know, this is sadly not the first time there has been a controversy regarding X-rays at Tallaght Hospital. An independent report was produced after it was discovered in 2009 that 57,000 X-rays had not been read and thousands of referral letters had not been opened. Following the publication of the report, we were assured that problems of this nature would not recur. It appears fairly evident to me that difficulties are arising at the hospital as a result of chronic staff shortages. When health service issues are debated, the importance of front-line staff is often mentioned because it cannot be questioned. However, derisory comments are often made about those who work in the administrative and clerical departments of our hospitals. This controversy should remind us how important it is to provide the necessary level of support staff, including administrators and clerical assistants. This appears to be a difficulty at present. I hope the Minister, Deputy Reilly, having waxed lyrical on previous crises in this hospital, will turn his attention to this crisis with a view to finding a resolution as a matter of considerable urgency.

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