Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

The south-east region has a population of more than 470,000 people, one of the highest population bases as far as regional health care is concerned. The south-east region has the critical mass to develop a whole suite of regional services, which are necessary for any regional hospital. While some regional services are already based in the hospital, such as ENT, pathology, neo-natal care and orthopaedic surgery as well as such medical specialties as rheumatology, oncology, neurology and dermatology, other services should be regionalised, including cardiology, critical care, palliative care, emergency medicine, obstetrics, radiology, specialised paediatrics and general surgery and its sub-specialities, including major surgery. While these specialties should be delivered in the regional centre, other services should remain locally based, such as general medicine, medicine for the elderly, general paediatrics, acute assessment casualty and elective surgery as part of a regional service.

Historically, funding for the south-east region was split among four locations and this has resulted in the fragmentation of health care resources and services, the inadequate development of specialist services and an under-development of regional hospitals. There is a lack of local governance because the HSE South is centred in Cork. There is a lack of direction from the HSE, which is over sensitive to political issues and this has resulted in poorly informed decision making. The Reconfiguration Steering Group was established in 2009. There has been no report as of yet and no agreement from the group. We have witnessed the continual undermining of the process and the clinical lead has resigned. I suggested he resigned because of the lack of progress and because of the direction the group was taking. These simply could not be countenanced from a medical and clinical point of view.

Will the Minister of State and the HSE inform me what reason was given for the resignation of the clinical lead? What does the Minister of State intend to do to bring this process back on track, with the best outcomes for patients as the sole prerogative of the group, rather than medical or local politics, which only lead to the muddying of the waters? The failure to develop new services that I have outlined will result in consultants leaving the regional hospital and the loss of services rather than their continued development. Although designated as one of the centres of excellence for cancer care, the resources have not been provided to Waterford Regional Hospital nor have the necessary supports to develop the centre been put in place, although that is what it deserves.

Last year the hospital outlined requirements for major capital investment in the areas of critical care, cancer care, hospice, accident and emergency and theatres. We need a clear and unambiguous direction from the HSE and the Minister in this regard. Capital investment in Cork last year amounted to €87 million but less than €500,000 was invested in Waterford Regional Hospital. This speaks volumes about the lack of investment in the hospital. The regional centre simply cannot put up with this lack of investment from the Government and the lack of direction from the HSE, which clearly still exists.

We need answers and we need investment in the regional hospital. We need the same services that are available in other regional centres and we will not accept "No" for an answer. The south east has been hit badly by unemployment and so on. Our regional hospital is being treated in a disgraceful manner. We need investment now. I call on the Minister of State to refer to the areas and services I have mentioned, which lack the support of the HSE from a capital perspective.