Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are very proud of the work that goes on at Mayo General Hospital but it seems to be under pressure on many different fronts at the moment, in particular in regard to accident and emergency and surgery. Of the €51 million mentioned by the Minister, how much was allocated to Mayo General Hospital in the past 11 months? The Minister said earlier that 4,000 extra staff have been appointed to the health service in the past 12 months. How many of those have gone to Mayo General Hospital?

What is the role of the hospital groups in this context? With regard to Saolta, in the Minister's view, is there enough engagement between the various components of the hospital groups towards dealing with this on a cross-hospital basis as opposed to an individual-hospital basis? I am aware of one recent case where a person was brought to the hospital in regard to a condition but declined to be treated by the specific consultant attached to Mayo General Hospital and opted for a consultant who was part of University Hospital Galway, and that person had to make their own arrangements. Surely, with a hospital group, that could have been done on a group-wide basis. It suggests to me that, perhaps, the group concept is not working the way we want it to.

If an appointment is scheduled and the hospital cancels the appointment, does this count as an appointment taken off the waiting list and then put onto a new timeframe or a new waiting list?

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