Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the same matter raised by Deputy Micheál Martin, it is incredible that members of the Government have managed to avoid much of the commentary on and discussion about the report of the trauma steering group. I will outline what it contains. In short, it proposes the redirecting of trauma patients to the supposed centres of excellence. However, we have seen all of this previously, with the scaling back of services in Nenagh, Ennis and the mid-west, the reduction in services in Roscommon and Tipperary and the concentration of services in Clonmel, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in the north east, St. Vincent's University Hospital and the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick. We do not need a commission report to know that these measures have utterly failed. The recommendations made in the report pertain to both serious and moderate trauma cases. That is the difference. Previously, patients with serious trauma injuries were sent to so-called centres of excellence, but now they will receive both serious and moderate trauma cases. This will mean that the scale of downgrading will be even greater and it will put pressure on hospitals that are already at breaking point. It means that many more people will be affected and that there will be more overcrowding and chaos in already over-worked emergency departments.

I was a member of the accident and emergency forum for many years and have seen at first hand the impact reports such as this have. The Tánaiste has made the point that it is important not to cause panic. However, that is exactly what will happen. People driving past their local hospitals tonight on their way home from work will wonder if their hospital will survive the Government's term of office. That is what is on their minds. The Minister says he has not seen the report and claims not to have been briefed on it. That is utterly incredible. There were senior members of the Department of Health involved in the production of the report and it is incredible that they would not have seen fit to provide a briefing.

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