Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will be very familiar with some of the commentary that has existed for years around the HSE and the health service. The kind of things one hears when in conversation with people is that there is too much administration, there are individuals with clipboards and things like that. Some of that commentary is unfair and maybe people do not necessarily understand that a person with a clipboard might have a very clinical job to do.

The perception is nonetheless of a system that is not quite delivering, for the number of people who are involved in it, and that it is not as productive as it needs to be. The administrative systems are a big part of the problem here. People find it difficult to comprehend the fact that there are two trauma hospitals in Cork and that if a person was in the Mercy University Hospital on a particular date and two months later, for whatever reason, was admitted to CUH, patient records cannot just be sent across electronically but must be transported by courier between the two. I understand that these systems are complex and that it is a big job. It is no small task to try to integrate different digital systems, and there is such a multiplicity of such systems across the healthcare task. It is a significant undertaking. I welcome the fact that the Government it is undertaking it. However, it is difficult for patients and their families to comprehend that this is the case.

It is difficult if someone has an ill relative in a hospital bed and is trying to get answers but the whole picture is not available. As Deputy Ward pointed out, when doctors rely so heavily on data, inevitably there will be clinical consequences when the data is not available quickly enough, is not complete or is in such a form that it is difficult to navigate. We sometimes deal with people who have had multiple hospital appointments during a period that their files are quite large and their doctors are rushing between appointments and trying to figure out what information is relevant in the here and now. It is crucially important that we address this . It is an ill wind that blows no good

One of the good things that came from Covid is the digital prescription system being operated by chemists. How that system operates much more efficiently now than it did prior to Covid is an example of how much of a difference having the right systems in place can make. It is crucially important.

Deputy Cullinane raised a valid point to the effect that we are coming to this quite late. It does underpin the modernisation of our healthcare service, so we support the objective of this legislation and will engage with the Minister.

I take this opportunity to raise a concern about the healthcare system as it stands. It is not just for the reasons we have discussed that morale is low. During the local election campaign, I met a woman who was a nurse in one of the hospitals in Cork for 25 years. She told me she was never so scared of getting sick than she is now. It was just her concern. The trolley epidemic that happens every winter is wrong but we have become accustomed to it. The fact is that large spikes in the number of people on trolleys can happen at any time during the year now.

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That is the pressure they are under. I know the pressure that the CUH and Mercy University Hospital and the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital are under. Large numbers of people are finding it difficult to even take leave because of the pressures the system is under.

The wider reform of the healthcare system needs to continue. Deputy Cullinane is working on very ambitious plans. We need to be ambitious. Our people deserve a better service. There are some excellent people working in our service and there is no doubt about that. They are working extremely hard. They are very committed. Many people could earn more in other professions or in other parts of the world, but they are dedicated to our healthcare service. They deserve a better system than what they have.

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