John Kelly (Labour)

It was reported in Roscommon at the weekend that the Health Service Executive proposes to reduce accident and emergency hours at Roscommon hospital from the current 24-7 basis to a service running from 8 a.m. on Monday until 5 p.m. on Friday evening with no cover at weekends.

Needless to say, the HSE would prefer the people of County Roscommon to get sick during the week only and not at weekends. The HSE is blaming the shortfall on its failure to recruit junior doctors, a matter raised in the House by my colleague, Senator John Whelan, last week. However, it is highly convenient that it is failing to recruit junior doctors to hospitals into which it has no intention of investing further. In addition, I am aware that junior doctors who are recruited in HSE west are given the option of choosing the hospital in which they wish to work and naturally enough, they all wish to work in Galway. However, my understanding is that no such option is given in other parts of the country. Such doctors are told both the hospitals in which they will work and that they may be obliged to rotate between hospitals, which covers the requisite staffing levels for full-time accident and emergency departments.

It is also apparent from the HSE's attempts to downgrade hospitals such as Roscommon County Hospital that it is misinforming ambulance staff, patients and the public by telling them the accident and emergency unit in Roscommon is full and that patients should be brought to places such as Sligo, Portiuncula or Galway hospitals. This has been challenged recently by a couple of people who realised the destination to which they were brought and where they were informed they could be dealt with, namely, Sligo hospital, was full while the Roscommon accident and emergency unit only had two patients. I believe the HSE is attempting to close the accident and emergency service there by stealth. Any given point in County Roscommon is 35 miles from the nearest accident and emergency unit and the county has a very poor structure -----