Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not have good news, unfortunately. INMO Trolley Watch figures for Our Lady's Children's Hospital indicate there were three on trolleys at the beginning of the year and 11 this morning. This is really surprising given that much of the focus in recent weeks has been on waiting lists for extremely sick children. Young children with serious degenerative diseases must wait for up to ten days to access a bed.

I received a response to a parliamentary question about rapid-access clinics for patients with suspected prostate cancer. There are designated centres throughout the country. The national target is to have 90% of patients with suspected prostate cancer seen within 20 working days. This target is not being met. It is significant in St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8, which is in CHO area 7, my area. There are 15 not being seen within 20 working days, while there is none in Beaumont, one in the Mater and none in St. Vincent's. Therefore, CHO area 7 has a large number while CHO area 9 does not.

What is the position on the Comhliosta system, which is the system in the Sláintecare report, and its implementation? Fifteen people are waiting for an appointment in St. James's Hospital for over three weeks, yet none is waiting in Beaumont Hospital. Addressing this just involves common sense; it is a no-brainer. It is not brain surgery that could sort this out. Could the Leader get an update from the Minister on Comhliosta, a very simple initiative that will be easy to implement and that will reduce the long waiting lists by using services in other hospitals?