Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand that the Minister for Health is very busy. There is no doubt about that in light of the current crisis. When we raise Topical Issue matters, however, it is important that we hear from someone of whom we can ask questions and who can provide answers. I mean no criticism of the Minister of State - she is fulfilling her role and I understand that.

Navan hospital is a great facility. It provides top-quality healthcare to thousands of patients in County Meath every year. It is a vital part of the health service in the county. The population of Meath is increasing rapidly, with a little under 250,000 people living there at the moment. The staff at the hospital do a tremendous job caring for patients and their work is of the highest standard. It has not been easy for them because they have had to operate in the shadow of significant cuts in recent years, including cuts to staffing numbers as well as in respect of the machines and technology with which they work.

In recent weeks, a problem has come to my attention. A general practitioner called me and said that he had received an echocardiogram report from the hospital that included a disclaimer. The disclaimer indicated that the health professional could neither stand over the quality of the machine nor the quality of the report. I investigated the source of this. I found out that the machine was outdated. Navan hospital had put in an application for the machine to be replaced in early 2016 but it was not replaced until late 2017. During that period, a total of 2,500 echocardiograms were carried out. Many, if not all, of the reports had a disclaimer from a senior medical professional stating that the quality of the echocardiogram could not be stood over. I approached the HSE on the issue. Let us bear in mind that an echocardiogram machine is important equipment. It allows doctors to understand the way the heart of a patient moves and the strength of the pumping. It also allows them to ensure that the valves in the heart are working correctly and works out whether blood is leaking backwards through those valves. It works out whether the valves are too narrow. It can actually work out whether there are tumours or infections growing around the heart valves.

This is critical technology. It is a critical diagnostic tool in an area of medicine that is critical for the survival of the individual in future. We know that a request was made to replace this out-of-date machine over a long period but it was not replaced. We know that health professionals in Navan hospital were forced to keep using the machine. However, the medical professionals put in a disclaimer stating that they could not stand over the quality of the machine or the reports. As a result, up to 2,500 patients have been given an echocardiogram report with a disclaimer.

I was cautious at the start of this because I did not want the message to go out to people who had gone through this process that in some way their diagnoses were sub par. I did not want them to get fearful. That is why I brought it to the HSE and sought for the HSE to retest these individuals in order to ensure that the original diagnoses were correct. In recent days, I have been told that the HSE has refused to retest these patients.

Let us suppose the Minister of State received a diagnosis on the basis of a diagnostic tool in respect of which a medical professional wrote a disclaimer stating that he could not stand over the quality of it. The Minister of State would want a retest. Why are other patients not granted the same?

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