Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators for their contributions to this very important debate. It is clear from the exchanges in the House this evening that we agree that the work of the National Rehabilitation Hospital is critical to the care of people who require its services. I share the Senators' frustration. A detailed workforce planning document has been prepared by the hospital and is under consideration by the HSE.

Neurological illness or injury has significant implications for the individual and their family and impacts on their social, educational, vocational and recreational participation. The National Rehabilitation Hospital provides complex, specialist rehabilitation services to patients who, as a result of an accident, illness or injury, have acquired a physical or cognitive disability and require specialist medical rehabilitation. The HSE has given me a commitment and has undertaken to discuss the cases the Senators have raised tonight with colleagues throughout the organisation to ascertain the key challenges in discharging these patients. The hospital has a reputation for excellence - I accept the Senator's comments in this regard - and provides patients with every opportunity to meet their rehabilitation goals, through personalised treatment plans delivered by consultant-led teams whose members are expert in their fields.

The rehabilitation programmes at the National Rehabilitation Hospital are tailored to meet the individual needs of adult and paediatric patients in the following areas of speciality: brain injury; spinal cord system of care; prosthetic, orthotic and limb absence rehabilitation; and paediatric family-centred rehabilitation. I re-emphasise the Government's commitment to the area of neuro-rehabilitation. The development of the new 120-bed National Rehabilitation Hospital on the existing hospital campus is a priority. The design will be patient centred and based on the principles of empowerment, dignity, privacy, confidentiality and choice. It is expected that the National Rehabilitation Hospital board and the Health Service Executive will approve the appointment of the successful contractors in June. This will be a major enhancement of rehabilitation services in the country. It will have a direct and significant impact on patient recovery, by providing an optimal ward and therapeutic environment for patient treatment at the hospital.

I anticipate that the ongoing engagement by the Health Service Executive with the National Rehabilitation Hospital regarding the latter's resource requirements and the initiatives I outlined in my opening statement will be effective in supporting increased capacity at the hospital. As part of its work on the development of an implementation framework for the neuro-rehabilitation strategy, the Health Service Executive has committed to undertake a mapping and gap identification exercise for the country as a whole in order to establish a clear picture of where specialist rehabilitation services are currently being delivered and where the demands are for these services. The Health Service Executive's social care division and the National Clinical Programme for Rehabilitation Medicine will work together to form an action plan, under the HSE's clinical strategy and programme division. A national steering group made up of stakeholders representing all the interested parties will be responsible for the governance and implementation of the action plan. I believe that the Government's commitment in the programme for a partnership Government, along with the priority actions in the area of neuro-rehabilitation identified by the Health Service Executive in its national service plan for 2017 will have a positive impact on the development of these services into the future and on the lives of those people with neurological illness or injury.

On the matter of ownership, under the redress scheme, the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy proposes to transfer the ownership of the lands and buildings to the HSE. The congregation has initiated the process to secure the consent of the Minister to the transfer but the process within the Department is at a very early stage. The future management and operation of the hospital are also part of this very complex proposal, which, in order to ensure that the National Rehabilitation Hospital will continue to provide health care services on behalf of the State, includes a proposal that the transfer be followed by a partial lease-back. Under the redress scheme, the transfer to the HSE will take place.

The Senators have raised many issues in this debate and it is my duty, as Minister of State with an interest in disability, to raise their concerns and the issues raised with the line Minister and the rest of the Government. I thank the Senators for the opportunity to address these issues this evening and for their valuable contributions to this important debate.