Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There has been great mention of the absence of staffing and staffing levels in various areas of the health service. One of the key things for getting staff into place is having the proper infrastructure in place. That brings me to Sligo hospital, where a cardiac catheterisation, cath lab, has not been place but has been promised for almost 20 years at this stage. This is getting to be serious because the senior consultant is about to retire. There is great concern that it will be impossible to recruit a senior consultant without having a cath lab. It is a serious problem and needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. I know the HSE capital plan is soon due to come out and we are very much hoping that a permanent cath lab for Sligo will be in that plan. We are not looking for a second one: we are looking for the first one. That is different from other areas which I know are also under serious pressure. Two new wards have also been promised for a long time for Sligo hospital, which is under considerable pressure in regard to numbers and space. This is vital and needs to be in the HSE capital plan and to happen as quickly as possible.

Also part of the same issue of pressure on beds and hospitals are home care packages for the elderly. We have a serious problem with home care packages for the elderly in CHO 1. While it may not be officially stated that funding is frozen, it is effectively frozen. People cannot get access to new home care packages because there is not the money there to provide them. That is the answer we are getting when we look for them. Every constituency office in the country is meeting the same problem but it is particularly acute in the north west. A new emphasis needs to be brought to the areas that are going to provide the most relief for people. One of them is the home help packages which will have an immediate effect. Another is the infrastructure for University Hospital Sligo.

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