Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and his office for selecting this matter. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for being here, but I must ask where the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is. Where is he and could he please come out? He came to County Kerry like a thief in the night. He stood in for a couple of quick pictures and then disappeared. He did nothing for University Hospital Kerry, UHK, when he came and did nothing for it when he left.

Why is it acceptable in Ireland that if a cow, a bullock or a dog has an injury, it can be quite safe to assume that, within two hours, a vet, a qualified person, will be giving care to that animal and providing treatment, and rightly so? Why does it seem acceptable in the Ireland of today that older people can break hips or sustain other fractures or that children can suffer injuries and have to go to accident and emergency departments, but that they might not be seen that day, never mind within the hour? It could be the following morning or the day after that they would be seen. Why have we come to this state of affairs in respect of healthcare? It is not an exaggeration to say that the family pet can get quicker and more immediate healthcare treatment than a grandparent, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter. This is not acceptable and it is not right.

In his absence, I would like to direct a question to the Minister for Health. I thank the Minister of State, and I respect him very much, as he knows I do, but he will see why I am pointing out these facts. Yesterday, the Minister was notified that University Hospital Kerry was going to be discussed on the floor of Dáil Éireann. He failed to turn up here today to answer questions, but he has failed to turn up for that hospital since he became a Minister. Therefore, I am not surprised that he is not here, because he is not interested in his portfolio. He is not interested in our hospital. He is not interested in our community hospitals. He is not interested in the GP network that is crumbling in County Kerry because we cannot recruit staff. I wish to raise these issues with the Minister.

We need a recruitment drive for nurses and incentives for them to come back to work in County Kerry. I would like to ask the Minister why it was that 16 were waiting for beds last night and why was there no capacity in the relevant department. Why was it the case yesterday that there was no orthopaedic bed for a person who fractured his or her hip in County Kerry? It has been proven that a direct result and consequence of prolonged trolley waits is an increase in mortality and morbidity rates, and, consequently, also longer average lengths of stay in hospital. We need more GP access in County Kerry to try to steer people away from having to go to our accident and emergency department. We need two new candidate advanced nurse practitioners as a matter of urgency. We need a new acute floor model and surgical assessment system in County Kerry. We need to advertise for two new consultant microbiologists, posts in which there seems to be no interest in at present. What is the plan for new management in our university hospital in County Kerry if the current management regime is changing?

Turning to our ambulance service, the men and women there provide an excellent service and do their jobs to the best of their ability, but we need more ambulances in County Kerry because of the geography and size of the county. We seem to be relying more and more on private ambulances and taxis. This is not the proper way to run a healthcare service. Again, we need to incentivise the recruitment of nurses and of other staff for our hospital. I appreciate so much the maintenance people, the catering people, the nurses on the wards and all the people who diligently go about their work. Shame, shame, shame on the Minister for not turning up for our hospital and for not turning up here today.

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