Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Since my speaking time is limited, I would appreciate it if the Minister could respond in writing to my questions. I wish to query the HSE's capital infrastructure expenditure, specifically on pre-hospital and acute hospital services. The expenditure on Ennis general hospital this year for the provision of an off-site outpatient unit on the Kilrush Road will be €600,000. This is minuscule compared with expenditure at other hospitals in the mid-west region and elsewhere in the country. Ennis, it would appear, is a laggard hospital insofar as capital funding and new building are concerned.

I understand the new outpatient unit will be fully ready in the early weeks of 2021 but thus far there has been no clarity on what staff will be hired or redeployed to have it fully staffed and up and running successfully from the get-go. I would like the details of the HSE's plans for the provision of consultants, clinical nurse specialists and diagnostics at the facility. The medical assessment unit in Ennis general hospital is known to offer a high-functioning service, with a low admission rate. Notwithstanding that, the unit exceeds daily its agreed expansion number of 26 patients. I am of the firm belief that a higher capital investment in the hospital could pave the way for an overall reduction in trolley numbers in University Hospital Limerick and alleviate the many other problems that hospital experiences daily.

I wish to raise the issue of consultants west of the Shannon. There are very few of them. County Clare has no respiratory consultant despite its having one of the highest diagnosis rates in the country. An endocrinologist visits the county just one day a week and he is so overburdened with his current caseload that he is incapable of taking on new patients and meeting those who have recently been diagnosed with diabetes. I want to know whether the HSE has specific plans to address these shortcomings.

I want to speak about a pressing and worrying issue affecting a constituent of mine, Maria Mead, from the village of Quin. The Ceann Comhairle and Minister will hear a lot about her over the airwaves in the coming days. Maria has just undergone a melanoma resection. In layman's terms, she has had several tumours removed from her scalp. For now, she is cancer free but there is a very high chance it will return. For this reason, her oncologist has recommended strongly that she undergo immunotherapy. Specifically, he has recommended that she take the drug pembrolizumab for a full year. Everyone in this Chamber will recall that this is the drug Vicky Phelan lauded and campaigned to have made widely available to cancer patients. A full year's treatment would cost Maria €150,000, money she simply does not have. She has healthcare insurance with Laya but the company will not cover the cost. The VHI would cover the cost but if she were to switch her policy to it, she would have to wait two years before filing a claim. This conundrum puts her health at great risk and puts her in fear of her life. I asked the Minister to set up a working group in his Department to consider how this life-saving drug can be made more widely available.

If this is Deputy Harris's last term as Minister for Health, I thank him and commend him for his efforts throughout the Covid pandemic.

See this speech in context