Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My God, they are so entertaining. Yesterday Fine Gael Members clapped themselves on the back and said regarding the problems in the health service that it was not a resource issue. I am sure they will remember what they said. Today, we see an internal assessment drawn up by the HSE which indicates that 9,000 pieces of hospital equipment need to be replaced. When Professor Fergal Malone requested a sum of €650,000 for the Rotunda Hospital last year to replace ageing and out-of-date equipment, it received €150,000. It looks to me as though the provision of resources is an issue. Vital diagnostic equipment, including MRI scans, X-ray machines and other equipment being used in hospitals across the country, needs to be replaced. I know from my own conversations with consultants and other clinicians that it has needed to be replaced for some time now. Is it any wonder that an increasing number of patients are being misdiagnosed? Not a week goes by without someone contacting me who has been given the wrong diagnosis. Patients are being sent home from hospitals with broken bones, a fractured back and other illnesses that should be picked up. They are not being picked up because the equipment being used is not of adequate quality. The CEO of the HSE, Mr. Tony O'Brien, told an Oireachtas committee last year that he was greatly concerned about the lack of money available to replace critical equipment which he said posed an immediate safety and quality concern. He estimated that an additional €1.4 billion was needed in the next five years to address the issue. Each time a procedure has to be cancelled when equipment breaks down, as many are, it adds to the waste of money in the system. This does not make economic sense, but I have no doubt that my Fine Gael friends will have worked up a spin and a cover up that it somehow benefits patients and was part of the plan all along. The failure to provide clinicians with the tools they need to do their jobs must be dealt with. I can see why there are such big issues with recruitment. I know from talking to nurses over Christmas why they are unwilling to come back and work in Irish hospitals. It is not only because of the chaos but also because they would not have the equipment they would need to do the job. In not replacing equipment the Government cannot blame the recruitment process. It is very plain and simple - the money to replace equipment is either available or it is not. The Government can either stand over the choice it made to give the money to the vulture funds, Apple or any other organisation or it can stand over the health service. It is unforgiveable in this day and age that proper equipment is not available to allow consultants and clinicians to do their jobs.