Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise an issue that has come into the public domain in the past few days. I refer to the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, being invited to carry out an investigation into an incident that took place in one of the maternity hospitals, which has now ended up in the courts. I want to raise concerns about the way we have dealt with some of the issues that relate to medical care.

Over the past three to four weeks I have met members of the medical profession ranging from GPs to junior doctors to medical consultants. The one worrying aspect to emerge was that medicine in this country now operates in a defensive mode. In the past 12 months we have paid out €80 million for medical negligence claims in maternity care. That shows we have a huge challenge.

In 2003, a report set out that by 2012 we should have 180 medical consultants working in obstetrics-gynaecology. Instead, we currently have 130 whole-time equivalents. Now because of the level of litigation and complaints, more and more people who are very good medical practitioners are drifting away from working in the area. Such a situation has caused a major problem. It means that even if a vacant consultant position does arise the post will not be filled. We need to face up to this challenge now. We have 130 consultants when we should have 180. Even if we try to replace consultants by bringing in ten new consultants per annum, the measure will not replace the number of consultants who retire. We must tackle the demands being placed on hospital services as regards making sure that we give adequate support to the people who work on the front line.Previously, I raised the fact that the HSE had no problem employing an extra 2,000 administration and management staff. However, it appears to have a difficulty giving the necessary support to people who are working on the front line. We face a very big challenge and, unless we confront it in the next three to four years, we will not have people to fill the roles of medical doctors or even nurses. One hospital has lost 250 maternity nurses in the past four to five years because they have left the hospital system. This is a major challenge. We should debate it and deal with it.