Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to debate accident and emergency services. Regrettably, in some cases we are talking about abuses of the service. This is a social problem, it is not new. I worked in the health service as a nurse for many years and I recall having to wait eight hours with a person for treatment because he or she was not in as urgent a need as those already there. It is important to remember that people attending accident and emergency wards must be prioritised with those in greatest need being dealt with first. A system to achieve that is in place.

The role of the general practitioner is central to the accident and emergency system. The MidDoc service was launched in Laois with funding for Westmeath and Longford during my chairmanship of the Midland Health Board between 2001 and 2003. I chaired meetings in Laois and in Mullingar which were attended by all elected public representatives from the area together with health professionals to advise people what the service meant and how to use it. It works very well and assists the accident and emergency services. It is related to emergency services because those who want a doctor at any time of the day or night will get one. It is not like the old days, when a doctor on duty who got up at 6 a.m. to reply to a sick call would be 20 minutes in bed when he would have to get up again and go on another sick call. Doctors now have a better quality of life and people have a service when they need it.

I am not, however, blaming general practitioners in any way. There are people who deliberately go to the accident and emergency unit because they do not want to go to their GP if they do not have a medical card.