Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased that the Minister has an open mind on this matter. A great deal of further discussion will be required. I will set out the essential problem that has arisen in Portlaoise. As the Minister has mentioned, a number of reports have previously been published. The maternity unit has had a troubled history. It was under-staffed for several years. Twenty additional staff have been provided in Portlaoise over the past year or so. As a result, a first-class maternity service is now available in the region under the direct supervision and management of the Coombe hospital. The accident and emergency department at the hospital needs a similar staff upgrade. A lazy approach should not be taken just because there is a difficulty. I understand that HIQA officials are in the hospital this week. They are carrying out a number of inspections as we speak. These reports should be used to improve services. They should not be employed as a lazy excuse to downgrade services. This issue has arisen since the new regional manager arrived. She announced last autumn that she wanted to curtail the accident and emergency department by providing a daytime-service only, but she was told she could not do that. She was sent away to draft a report to back her original preconceptions. That report is now in front of the Minister. I am saying to the Minister that we need to keep the accident and emergency department in Portlaoise. As we all know, the triage service at the hospital currently sends some patients to the stroke unit in Naas. If there is a major car crash, injured people are sent to the trauma unit in Tullamore. That is fine but the facility in Portlaoise, which is used by 30,000 people every year, needs to be maintained in the interests of patient safety.

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