Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would like to raise two issues this morning. I am concerned by today's revelation that thousands of radiological examinations reported in hospitals across the country have had to be reviewed. It is understood that these scans were reported on by three locum consultant radiologists in seven different hospitals and that at least one patient has had a delayed diagnosis of cancer as a result. As someone from County Cavan, which is one of the areas where patients have had to be recalled, this is a cause of concern for me. I am sure it concerns many others in this House too. I am sure it has caused great worry for the families of those involved as well. While most of these patients have not suffered serious clinical outcomes, fortunately, the fact that the potential was there further erodes confidence in our health system. The scans have had to be reviewed. It is likely that the locum doctors involved and their agencies were paid exorbitant fees. They are often paid at four times the rate of permanent staff. It is important that we ensure the HSE focuses on reducing reliance on agency staff and makes permanent hospital posts attractive to qualified applicants.

I would like to ask for an update on the progress being made with the Public Health (Availability of Defibrillators) Bill 2013, which was introduced in this House by Senator Quinn towards the end of 2013. I suggest that the House should consider having a debate with the relevant Ministers on this issue, with particular reference to a report published by HIQA at the end of last year, which called for a targeted deployment of defibrillators. Earlier this month, Cavan County Council passed a motion calling on the Government to enact legislation that would ensure defibrillators are available in certain buildings. This motion, which was put to the council by my colleague, Councillor Paddy McDonald, following the death of a man in a hotel in County Cavan, received unanimous support. I remind the House that because no defibrillator was readily available at the hotel, a member of staff died after collapsing on the kitchen floor. It was mentioned when Senator Quinn's Bill was debated in the Seanad in 2013 that the use of these devices in real-life emergency situations can more than double survival rates among people who experience sudden heart stoppage due to heart attacks or errant heart rhythms. We need to give strong consideration to this serious issue for public health policy, just as we did in previous discussions about placing fire extinguishers near building exits, wearing seat belts while driving and manufacturing cars with airbags. It has been mentioned that nearly half of all deaths from cardiovascular disease are sudden and unexpected and occur before hospital admission. As the length of the delay between cardiac arrest and defibrillation is a significant predictor of survival, it is important that we make sure this legislation goes through these Houses, is brought to fruition and is implemented. I ask the Minister and his colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to look at this issue as a matter of urgency.