Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this significant issue. Three of the 11 hospitals involved are outside the greater Dublin region - Wexford, Cavan and Sligo. I agree with him there should be services in every significant area of population. I constantly say that the solution to overcrowded hospitals is within primary care and this is where this programme needs to go. This morning, we launched the diabetes in primary care programme, which will be delivered throughout the country in a primary care setting. It is about the management of a chronic disease and this is where the heart failure programme needs to go as well. That is where it is heading and we will increasingly provide for the management of chronic conditions in the primary care sector, of which HF will be one. I do not believe in the doomsday scenario, nor does the Deputy, but one must make one's case. If Healthy Ireland has an impact on how we live our lives and ensures we do not end up with heart failure because of alcohol abuse, tobacco use or inactivity, the future will be much brighter. However, a significant cohort will always end up with HF and we need to ensure they are managed in their communities where they feel most comfortable and where they are best known. The acute hospital should be a last resort.

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