Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Senators for raising this important matter. The Government's priority in regard to acute hospital services is to ensure safe, high quality care for patients, provided at the most appropriate location. The Minister is committed to ensuring all care is provided at the lowest level of complexity, consistent with safe practice. Roscommon County Hospital provides an important range of elective and emergency services and treats cases on both an inpatient and a day case basis.

Over recent weeks, HSE management and clinicians at Roscommon County Hospital have been engaged in discussions to try to ensure any clinical risks and patient safety issues at the hospital are anticipated and fully addressed in advance. The main concern is to ensure the hospital has sufficient staff with the required qualifications and experience available to maintain safe levels of service. The hospital is one of a number of hospitals nationally whose progress in regard to the implementation of the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, Ennis report recommendations is being monitored. Similarly, all hospitals will in future face regulatory, licensing, staffing and accreditation requirements.

An overriding and immediate concern, however, is that, like a number of other hospitals, Roscommon has experienced problems for some time in recruiting junior medical staff and nursing staff, with further recruitment difficulties anticipated from July as part of the next rotation of junior hospital doctors. Roscommon hospital and, indeed, Ireland are not unique in this regard, and other countries are also experiencing difficulties in recruiting non-consultant hospital doctors, NCHDs, at present. There is also a significant level of vacancies in Northern Ireland and in the UK at present. As a result, Roscommon hospital has had to rely heavily on agency staff, which creates challenges for quality, continuity and certainty in respect of covering rotas.

The HSE has developed a range of strategies and initiatives to maximise recruitment of NCHDs, in particular, the development of training posts. The HSE has also developed a centralised recruitment process for service posts, introduced a single contact point for HSE agencies to obtain locum or temporary medical staff, and agreed less burdensome visa and work permit arrangements for doctors from outside the EEA. In addition, as part of the recruitment campaign, senior HSE staff travelled to India and Pakistan to conduct interviews and progress offers of employment in early May. It is intended that this will result in the recruitment of a number of additional NCHDs. In this regard, the HSE has engaged with the Medical Council to ensure that, subject to successful candidates meeting the council's registration requirements, they can be registered to practice in Ireland as quickly as possible.

On behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, I assure the House that Roscommon hospital is a vital part of the health service infrastructure in the west. The Government will ensure as many services as possible can be provided safely in smaller local hospitals. Roscommon hospital has a clear future role in serving the local community. Our continuing focus will be on maintaining a high quality, safe service for patients in Roscommon, and all our efforts will be directed to this end.