Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this important issue. Cathy Mahon from Lisacul, County Roscommon, occupies a rehabilitation bed in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire, that would allow another patient to finally leave hospital. Despite the fact the 51 year old has been ready for discharge for the past six months, following excellent treatment at the hospital after a stroke that left her as a quadriplegic, no home care support has been secured, meaning she cannot return to her family home. Helen Grace has been trapped in St. Vincent's hospital in Dublin for a year while she waits for access to the same bed Cathy Mahon occupies in the National Rehabilitation Hospital. It effectively means that Cathy Mahon, through no fault of her own, is occupying the only suitable bed that would allow Helen Grace to move out of St. Vincent’s hospital.

Cathy Mahon spent months in University Hospital Galway before being transferred to the Mater Hospital in Dublin and later on to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire, where she is today. She has been cared for in the only bed in the country that is equipped for a patient who has her level of disability and needs the support of a ventilator to help her to breathe. Cathy Mahon has made remarkable progress and was ready to be discharged in May, but only if she received an intensive home care package. However, she is still in the National Rehabilitation Hospital while awaiting a package that would include skilled home care staff and therapy. Her home is ready. Her husband is keen to have her go home. He has carried out extensive work to their small cottage to accommodate Cathy.

Helen, on the other hand, who is also quadriplegic and on a ventilator, has for the past 12 months occupied a specialised bed in St. Vincent's hospital, Dublin, waiting to be transferred to Dún Laoghaire as soon as Cathy Mahon can return home. The Mahons have made absolutely no progress in securing the necessary home care support they require to ensure Cathy can leave Dún Laoghaire and return to Lisacul in County Roscommon. By doing so, it would allow Helen Grace to move from St. Vincent's hospital to the specialised bed in Dún Laoghaire.

I know there are plans to put a second specialised bed in Dún Laoghaire. However, it is pointless having a bed there and a patient in it who does not need that level of care just because we cannot put specialist supports in place to allow her to live with as much dignity and independence as possible in her own home in Lisacul, County Roscommon. Will the Minister of State take on and progress this specific case? Will he engage with the HSE and ensure it has the funding made available to it from the national coffers to community healthcare organisation, CHO, 2 to ensure Cathy Mahon can return back to County Roscommon?

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