Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy asked me about three points and I am answering the three points. I am not going to defend the indefensible. When I see something that is appalling and unacceptable, I will call it out as such. I will tell Deputies what I, as Minister, will do to mitigate it and I will also tell Deputies what I expect from the people who receive €14.1 billion of taxpayers' money to fix the situation.

Reference was made to policy. I do not run Our Lady's Hospital, Navan. My policy is not in respect of endoscopies and theatres, but I will get the Deputy a full response from management with regard to Our Lady's Hospital, Navan. If the Deputy is saying that he believes more can be done in Navan to tackle waiting lists and carry out additional procedures, I will examine the position. On the emergency department in Navan, in the nine month I have been the Minister for Health I have had no contact from the HSE on any proposals to change any services at that hospital.

I am extraordinarily concerned about what has happened at CUMH. Deputy Moynihan and other Deputies from Cork brought the matter to my attention. I visited CUMH and met the consultants, clinicians and management there. I cannot understand how we have a situation where women in Cork face waiting lists that are almost double the length of those that obtain in Dublin hospitals. We had a financial crisis across all of the health service in all of the country, yet we had a situation in Cork where women are expected to face much longer waiting lists. That can only come back to how we are actually managing the resources in that hospital. The Deputy has correctly said that in recent weeks we have seen a new group clinical director for maternity services, an appointment that has been very much welcomed by many clinicians there. In my letter to the director general of the HSE, I have made it very clear that I expect to see the gynaecological services in CUMH prioritised as part of the HSE waiting list action plan for 2017. I expect to have a follow up meeting with clinicians and with Cork Oireachtas Members in the coming weeks.

Deputy Moynihan also raised the issue of cataract services. Under the NTPF, €5 million will be targeted at day-case procedures with a priority on operations and procedures such as the cataract procedures. I hope a number of the Deputy's constituents and people right around the country from March 2017 should start to be called for those appointments. I agree absolutely with Deputy Moynihan who asked if we can learn from other parts of the country. This is the point about accountability - it is not that heads must roll or that everybody is appalling, it is about saying that we must find really good examples and demand that good practice everywhere. There are very good examples and the deputy mentioned what is being done in Sligo. I would like to see a pooling of waiting lists and resources so that if a person needs to see a consultant today the entire hospital group works to try and get that person to see whichever consultant is appropriate as quickly as possible. We are going to look at rolling out the pooling of waiting lists in 2017.

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