Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá ceist agam maidir le clár an Rialtais. The programme for Government makes numerous commitments about the management of hospital referrals. However, the MRI unit in Cork University Hospital recently sent letters to Dr. Nick Flynn, a general practitioner in Hollyhill, Cork, detailing the patient referral system operating in that unit. The letters say that patients referred to the unit by a GP will not receive an appointment. Referrals have to be made by a consultant in order to obtain a scan.

However, one of the letters goes on to state that GP referrals would be accepted where the patient was willing to self pay or had health insurance. Therefore, wealth, not health, is the decisive factor. As the Taoiseach knows, in some cases the waiting time is two years. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister for Health to investigate this downright offensive act of medical discrimination whereby vulnerable patients are not given their scans or referrals as required?

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