Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I can take it that the Minister of State is confirming that the rehabilitation unit in Roscommon University Hospital is still planned for the area and is undergoing review in the spatial assessment he described. The people of Roscommon have reason to be suspicious. They feel that, after reconfiguration, for which a whole host of new services were developed, including a successful medical assessment unit and injuries and endoscopy units, things in the hospital have been left in abeyance.

As I have pointed out, the outpatients department is not fit for purpose. It was built in 1947. The endoscopy unit cannot expand to ENT and neurological endoscopy for want of a decontamination unit. The injuries unit cannot expand its service because of a shortage of advanced nurse practitioners. In addition, elderly and frail people are going to memory and frailty clinics but cannot park on the grounds of Roscommon hospital. They have to walk from the local GAA grounds, which are about 500 m away, in spite of there being adequate space around Roscommon University Hospital.

The people of Roscommon need to be reassured that in the deal proposed to them after the reconfiguration of the hospital, which deeply disappointed people in the area, the State will not forget investment in what is a critical piece of infrastructure in the delivery of healthcare in the west. I am happy the Minister of State has confirmed that the rehabilitation unit has not been removed from the planning of health services in Roscommon.

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