James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is one in which I have had a keen interest since I first stood in Dáil, and the issue of cystic fibrosis was the first matter I raised in an Adjournment debate in this House.

The Government is acutely aware of the challenges that people with cystic fibrosis and their families face in managing their condition. It was a matter of grave concern to us all that ten years ago the average life expectancy of people with cystic fibrosis on this side of the Border was ten years less than those on the other side of the Border. Some of the factors that influenced that were the lack of newborn screening, delayed diagnosis, overcrowding in emergency departments and the lack of single en-suite rooms. We are addressing those issues and although we have not completely addressed them, we have made a good deal of progress, as the Deputy outlined in his contribution.

It is always the aim of health care professionals to avoid hospital admissions for cystic fibrosis sufferers wherever possible in order to minimise the risk of exposure to infection. Beaumont Hospital provides services to adults with cystic fibrosis in a dedicated outpatient facility which is primarily focused on providing ambulatory care to people with cystic fibrosis. The dedicated cystic fibrosis outpatient unit, to which the Deputy referred, facilitates a comprehensive range of multidisciplinary services; these include outpatient clinics, a drop-in centre for clinical assessments with medical consultants and nurses, and the provision of treatments that would otherwise require hospitalisation, such as infusions and antibiotic therapies, assessment of pulmonary function, physiotherapy, dietetics and psychology. The consultation and treatment rooms benefit from specialist air filtration systems for the purposes of infection control.

Where admissions are unavoidable, there is a need for dedicated accommodation in an environment which allows appropriate isolation for improved infection control. It is Department of Health policy that there must be sufficient inpatient beds available nationally to treat all people with cystic fibrosis who require hospitalisation in single en-suite rooms.

The Nutley Wing at St. Vincent's University Hospital, which was built at a cost of €29 million and opened in the summer of 2012, houses a dedicated cystic fibrosis unit and represents a major improvement in the care of cystic fibrosis patients in Ireland.

The hospital currently treats 330 adults, which accounts for more than 50% of the cystic fibrosis adult population.

Due to the proactive management of cystic fibrosis patients through its dedicated outpatient facility, Beaumont Hospital rarely experiences emergency admissions of cystic fibrosis patients. Access to single en-suite rooms is prioritised for patients with cystic fibrosis who require elective admission for prophylactic antibiotic therapy or other treatment on St. Paul's Ward, which is the specialist respiratory ward.

In discussions with the national clinical care programme and the clinical team on site it was identified that due to the increase in numbers there is a requirement for more inpatient single rooms for Beaumont Hospital's cystic fibrosis patients. Beaumont Hospital is working through a number of options and anticipates putting forward a business case for the 2015 national service plan. This will be considered in the context of service development in the Dublin north-east hospital group. I welcome to the country Mr. Tony O'Connell, the new CEO of the group. A number of positive developments in cystic fibrosis services for the Dublin north-east hospital group are coming on stream at present, with the opening last week of a new outpatient unit in Drogheda, adjacent to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, which will treat children and young adults from Meath, Louth and north County Dublin, and the imminent official opening of an outpatient cystic fibrosis suite at Cavan General Hospital.

Thankfully, the prognosis for this rare but devastating disease has vastly improved over recent years due to significant investment in services and earlier diagnosis. I give the House my assurance that the Government is committed, along with the HSE, to continued investment in research projects and to training physicians to help people with this condition to live longer and healthier lives. We will work harder to limit the impact of this disease until such time as a cure can be found.

See this speech in context