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

I will give the Minister two more examples. Take the rapid access haematuria clinic, that is, the blood in urine clinic at Roscommon University Hospital, RUH, where 10% of patients have been diagnosed with cancer. It treats 70% of patients in one visit and 100% of patients - all of them - are seen within the 28-day target time for urgent cases, and yet this has not been rolled out anywhere else. Look at the state-of-the-art theatre sterilisation room that was constructed in 2016 at RUH. It has been used for storing beds and wheelchairs for the last five years because the HSE will not approve funding to equip the facility in order that we could fully utilise the two theatres in that hospital and reduce waiting times across the west. Of course, if we did that and reduced waiting times across the west with regard to our waiting lists, that would undermine the case for the new elective hospital in Merlin Park. It is, therefore, better to spend money on treating patients in private hospitals than supporting public hospital innovation, which can make a real difference in the long term to waiting lists.

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